Friends and Enemies
by Ranma-sama
Summary: Sometimes it is very hard to know who your friends and enemies are. In fact, you may just find yourself discovering that those who you have always trusted do not have your best interests at heart, or do they? FemNaru, FemaleNaru, girlNaruto.
1. Chapter 1

So normal disclaimer stuff, I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters in here. Couple things to get out of the way, this is my first fic, and I am by no means an author. I have had many fanfiction ideas, and this is simply one that I decided I would like to make an attempt at sharing. Anyways, on with the show.

In the village of Konoha, a nine year old girl was getting ready for her first day at the resident ninja academy, and the beginning of a destiny that would take her from deaths door, to the position of Hokage. This was indeed a big day for her, as she had always wanted to be a ninja, just like her ji-chan. Having finished with her shower, and brushing her teeth, Uzumaki Naru was looking at herself in the small mirror inside her bathroom. The little nine year old girl staring back at her had a couple distinctive features, sunny blonde shoulder length hair done in two pony tails, somewhat abnormal for their village, sky-blue eyes, smooth tan skin, and a trio of whisker marks gracing either cheek. Deciding that she was fit to begin the first day of her new life, Naru took off as fast as her legs would carry her towards the academy.

'Gunna be late, gunna be late!! I shouldn't have spent that extra time looking myself over in the mirror, mouh!' Sprinting the last of the way to the Academy, Naru couldn't help chiding herself for being late on the first day of class.

Bursting through the last door in the entrance hall of the Academy, Naru bent over, breathing hard. Looking up, she saw almost every student in the class looking at her, not to mention the instructor was as well. This wasn't good...

"Uzumaki-san I presume? Please take a seat in the back. Also, do not be late to my class again." Naru wasn't quite sure how the sensei knew who she was, maybe he had taken roll already? Little did she know that her distinctive blond hair, and whisker marks gave her away to anyone who was over the age of about sixteen. (A/N Naru is 9 and I figured only people about 7 years or older during the kyuubi attack would remember the kyuubi girl.) Heading towards the back of the classroom as instructed, Naru was looking for a seat to take, when a blond and pink haired duo urged her to sit with them. Seeing no reason not to, Naru took the seat offered.

Once the instructor had turned around to write on the board, the blond one spoke up, "Hi, I'm Yamanaka Ino, and this is Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"Hi Ino, Sakura, nice to meet the both of you."

"Nice to meet you too, Uzumaki....?" Sakura spoke softly, hoping to not be caught by the instructor who was still writing down a long speech that was given by the first Hokage.

"Naru, Uzumaki Naru."

"Well..." Ino began, until she was interrupted.

"HEY! You three in the back, if you want to talk so much, maybe you would like to do it while in the corner doing push-ups?" The instructor bit out angrily.

"No, sorry sensei, it won't happen again" Sakura called out.

"See that it doesn't." Turning back to the board, the instructor continued finishing up the speech. The rest of the lecture was spent trying to stay awake as the instructor explained the philosophical meaning behind the founder of Konoha's words, and how it applied to them as hopeful genin. This however, was lost on most of the audience, because everyone was so nervous the night before that they couldn't sleep, and now with a subject matter as boring as speech, most were barely fighting off sleep.

Once lunch time came around, all the students were only too eager to get out and eat in the sun. Such high hopes they all had for today, some envisioned blowing fire, or doing deadly weapons training, yet it turned out that the only thing to have happened so far, was lecturing. Not surprisingly, the genin wanna-be's had already pretty much formed their social groups, if one were to observe the field where the kids were eating lunch, they would see numerous clusters of children, usually all boys, or all girls, eating and chatting about the day so far. Naru had followed Sakura and Ino to sit under the shade of a rather large tree, along with a couple other girls.

Within minutes after everyone being introduced to one another, conversation quickly jumped to boys. Which ones were ugly, creepy, or hot. Inevitably the subject of Sasuke came up, and almost instantly, all the girls of the group were fawning over how mysterious and dark he was.

"I don't know, he didn't seem very nice to me. I mean he was glaring at everyone, and when you guys asked him to join us, he just walked off without saying anything." Naru didn't necessarily want to bring up the fact that he had so coldly dismissed the girls of their group that had invited him to eat with them, but she didn't know that anything bad about Sasuke was best kept to one's self, especially around his fan girls. Having grown up in the orphanage, Naru was pretty much immune to the "Sasuke-kun Syndrome".

"Who are you to talk about Sasuke-kun like that?!" spoke one of the girls vehemently. "He lost his family, he just needs someone to love him, and understand what he is going through." All the girls in the group save Naru were nodding their heads in agreement.

"I don't know...", Naru wasn't going to be so easily dissuaded on her opinion. "I never had a family, and there are a lot of mean people that don't really treat me well, but I don't go around being mean to others. Why should he?"

"If you're going to talk about Sasuke-kun like that, then get out of here. Only people that like Sasuke-kun are allowed to sit here."

Naru began feeling nervous and looked around the group to see if the others seemed to agree or not. With a frown, Naru noticed that almost all of the girls were nodding their heads, even Ino and Sakura. 'I can just say that I don't know what I was thinking and that Sasuke is hot. No, ji-chan said lying is wrong.' "Ok, fine." And with that Naru got up and left their group, heading back into the academy.

When lunch was over and the kids were filing back into the room, Naru was already seated in the same spot she was in before lunch. As Ino and Sakura were walking towards the back of the room, Naru prepared to get up so they could get to their seats, but they continued past her, without even speaking a word, to sit farther back.

'Why are they sitting back there? Is it because of what I said about Sasuke?' However, before Naru could ask, the instructor came back into the room, and began his lesson anew. Naru spent the rest of the class time, not really paying attention to the lecture, but wondering again, if perhaps speaking her mind wasn't the best thing to do.

After class was over for the day, all of the kids were let out. As Naru was leaving, she saw all of the kids mothers and fathers showing up to pick them up from their first day at the academy, congratulations going around for sons and daughters having taken their first step towards adulthood. Looking around, Naru noticed that the only other student without parents there to greet them was Sasuke. Naru couldn't help but think, 'Ok, he might deserve a bit of slack, but not anywhere near as much as those...those...those fangirls are cutting him. If I can deal with it... then he should be able to as well.'

Heading home, Naru decided that she wouldn't take back what she said about Sasuke, and if those girls wanted to avoid her because of that, then fine. She could make other friends. After a brief meal at the local ramen stand on the way home, Naru got into bed, and prepared for what the next day would bring.

--Line Break

'My God, my God, my God!!! I will NOT be late again.' Naru couldn't help but think as she sprinted on the way to school. How and why the power was shut off to her building was a complete mystery, but she doubted the instructor would take it as an excuse. 'Almost, almost, I'm going to make it!'

"Safe!" Naru yelled skidding into class a mere 17 seconds before the clock showed 8am. However, this didn't seem to deter the instructor.

"Uzumaki-san, if you are going to continually be late to my class, then perhaps you should re-consider your career. Now take a seat in back."

"But I wasn't late, I got here at 7:59:43!", Naru said incredulously.

"And in my book that is late, now take a seat in the back of the room or else!", the instructor almost screamed at her. And with that, Naru sulked to the back of the classroom, being careful to avoid Ino and Sakura, choosing a seat that was isolated near the back of the room. Once again, the lecture began, and once again, although without the excuse of jittery nerves, about half the class fell asleep.

As the instructor droned on, Naru couldn't help but wonder why all the adults, and apparently her instructor included, always treated her harshly. Always getting yelled at, whether it was the lady at the grocery store telling her not to touch anything she wasn't going to buy, or her landlord. All were always yelling, and glaring. She couldn't understand why, when observing other kids doing the same things, they never got yelled at. Why was she different.

'Why am I different', Naru sighed, as she closed her eyes, and put her head down. It wasn't two minutes that she had been sitting with her head on the table that the instructor yelled from the front of the classroom, "Uzumaki-san! Do not sleep in my class, if you feel the subject matter is so boring, then perhaps you should leave!"

Naru's head immediately rose from the desk, and she stammered an apology to the instructor, "I-I'm sorry sensei, it won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't Uzumaki-san, see that it doesn't. The Hokage may be forcing us to teach you, but if you don't shape up, we'll have you thrown out of this academy so fast, those horrible whiskers of yours will fall off. Do you hear me?"

"Y-yes..." Naru was trying her hardest to keep a neutral face, but her eyes began to water a bit. Once again she was singled out. Looking around, Naru immediately spotted four other kids who were all sleeping, and none of them were getting yelled at, or threatened with expulsion.

'Why me? Now I know for sure the sensei hates me. He said if ji-chan wasn't forcing them, he wouldn't even teach me at all. Why do they all hate me so much. What have I ever done to them?' Naru's right hand rose up and graced her cheeks, 'And why did he have to bring up my whiskers, plus they are part of my skin, it's not like they can fall off dummy.' Naru smiled a bit at her own little jab at the instructor, even though it wasn't spoken aloud. And this is how the lecture went on until lunch, Naru looking straight ahead, pretending to listen, while half the class slept, and the instructor droned on.

Once lunch finally came around, Naru surveyed the area behind the academy, looking for a group of people to sit with. The three groups of girls that existed were all clustered fairly close to one another, and they were all chatting away, probably about "Sasuke-kun". Finally, Naru spotted a group of about 4 boys, who weren't seated that far from the girls.

Naru analyzed their group in more detail as she got closer to them, 'One bigger kid, eating chips and a sandwich, looks friendly. One just laying down looking at the sky, what's up with that? One just sitting with his sunglasses on, apparently not eating at all, just...sitting there. And finally, one more kid, eating a sandwich, and feeding a dog a bit of the meat from inside. Those markings under his eyes make him look kinda cute.' Naru finished with a slight blush. Deciding to give it a shot, Naru went up to their group and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naru. Do you guys mind if I eat with you?" She asked hopefully.

The one looking up at the sky simply rolled his head over to look at her for a second, and then rolled it back without saying a word. The larger boy stopped munching on chips long enough to get a good look at her. She couldn't tell if the sunglasses kid was looking at her or not because of the sunglasses, but he probably was. However, it was the kid with the dog, the one she thought was cute, that shot her down.

"This is a guys only meeting. How about you go fawn over "Sasuke-kun" with your other girl friends. We have ninja stuff to talk about." He stated in a haughty manner.

"It doesn't look to me like you're doing much of anything at all. I mean that kid over there is just staring at the sky?" Naru began angrily.

"This is going to be troublesome, don't bring me into it." (A/N Ahh, Shikamaru you lazy bum)

"We were just about to start until you came and interrupted us!" Kiba exclaimed. "Now go play kunoichi with the other girls or something, we have real ninja stuff to do."

"Fine!" And with that Naru stomped away, towards an open part of the area, right near the woods. However, when she was passing the group of girls that contained Ino and Sakura, she couldn't help but hear someone calling out to who she assumed was her.

"What's the matter...WHISKERS...got shot down by your wannabe boyfriend? He's kind of ugly, but I guess that's all someone like you can hope for, what with those god awful whisker marks on your cheeks." Naru just kept walking, that way they wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. Now even the kids her own age, the ones she was supposed to be friends with were going to hate her because she was different. Once Naru finally sat down near the edge of the woods, the sandwich she made lay forgotten as she tried to stop her tears.

'Now I'm going to be completely alone, everyone is going to hate me. Why can't someone just treat me like a normal person, why can't someone just like me for who I am?'

Little did Naru know, but she couldn't hide her tears from everyone. Someone determined to change Naru's life had witnessed the entire scene unfold.

When Naru heard the bell signaling the end of lunch, she wiped her eyes and headed back to the classroom. Sitting in the very back of class so no one would look at her, Naru stared at the wall behind the instructor, while the other kids in the class slept, talked, or took notes. The last being a very select few.

And this is how life for Naru went on for the next six months. Making sure to get to class at least 10 minutes early so as not to get yelled at. Trying her hardest to keep paying attention while others were allowed to sleep, and eating lunch alone by herself near the edge of the woods. Eventually, Naru even moved her lunch spot into the woods, so she wouldn't have to look at or be looked at by any of the other kids, but especially the girls, who it seems had made it their personal mission to make her life hell.

However, this would all change in the not so far future. As is commonly said, it is darkest before the dawn. (A/N at this point, Naru is 9.5 years old)

"Ok class, today will be my last day as your instructor. At this point, you should have at least a decent understanding of what it means to be a genin, and what is expected of you as such. For the next two years, you will be split up into separate shinobi and kunoichi classes. There are distinct differences between shinobi and kunoichi, not only in fighting styles, but in responsibilities as well. There are missions that are only doable by kunoichi, and you will need special training for them. So, all of the boys, you will meet in room 141 and show the same respect you showed me to your new shinobi teacher. Girls, you will meet your new teacher in room 281 and I expect all of you to take your training seriously. That is all, you have the rest of the day off."

Heading home, Naru couldn't help but ponder how her life had taken a turn for the worse. 'Great, now I am going to be isolated in a class with the people that hate me the most. At least the guys will simply ignore me, but the girls are out to get me!' Naru wailed mentally.

This was no exaggeration, the guys in her class for the most part simply ignored her, following what most of their parents had told them, and keeping away from the "bad girl" as their parents had deemed. The girls however, after the whole Sasuke fiasco, had taken it upon themselves to punish her for even thinking about Sasuke in such a terrible way. The fact that the instructor picked on her whisker mark features was soon picked up by the other girls in the class, and at this point, none of them would call her by her name, she was simply known as whiskers.

~AN~

So this is my attempt at a piece of fan fiction. This chapter is kinda short, I realize that, I'll try to make sure successive chapters are around 5k+ each. We'll see how well that promise holds up though =)


	2. Chapter 2

General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the associated characters. With that said, on with the story.

A/N: Phew, I had some free time and so I decided to get out another chapter. I actually had enough points from my chapter summary in the outline that I did to break 5k words, so yay! Anyways, I hope you like.

Chapter 2

Once again, a classroom was full of bright eyed and bushy tailed students all having similar thoughts, though this time they were all female. There was absolutely no way that after all that time they spent learning about history and morality that the instructor could possibly have anything except awesome cool jutsu to teach them. Well, once again they were all wrong, they just didn't know it yet.

"Attention class! As of today you have all taken the first step on the road to becoming Kunoichi of Konoha. As such it is your responsibility to always represent the best that the village has to offer. Your actions will bring disgrace or glory to not only yourselves, but to our village as well." the instructor spoke crisply. Pointing at the door she continued,

"The door is right over there. If you are not prepared to give 100% to your team and your village, then leave NOW. Anything less will only get you or others killed. Is that understood?"

Thinking that this was the perfect lead in to the awesome jutsu the instructor was about to begin teaching the class answered spiritedly, "YES!"

Seeming satisfied with the response from the young Kunoichi to be, the instructor continued, "Good. I am Nishimura-sensei, and I will be molding you into the Kunoichi of tomorrow. Now, before we begin anything else, I need to cover the Code of the Kunoichi..."

The instructor was interrupted by collective groans and mumbles, "Ahhhh..." "You've got to be kidding meeeee..." "I thought we went through this all already...."

"SILENCE! I already pointed out the door to each and every one of you. If you have a problem with the instruction then you can head through that door and leave your Kunoichi careers behind! Is that understood?!" The instructed yelled.

The students somewhat stunned by her outburst simply sat there looking at her. Naru tried to look attentive the entire time. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the instructor singled her out, Naru tried to pre-empt the instructor by answering her before the others, "Y-ye...".

"Uzumaki! Do you think this is a joke? You think being a Kunoichi is just fun and games?" The instructor asked.

"N-no Sensei, I don't." Naru was able to get out before looking down to her desk. 'It's happening again...what did I ever do to anyone?' Naru moaned mentally.

Sneering in contempt the instructor continued, "This goes for the rest of you as well. I will not tolerate wallflowers or sloths is that understood? I told you once already, I will not accept less than 100% from all of you, now is that UNDERSTOOD?!"

"Yes Sensei!" The class chorused back to her.

"Alright then, the Kunoichi code states that......"

--Scene Break--

"Ji-chan!!" Naru yelled running up to the Sandaime Hokage with a real smile on her face. This was one of the few times that she didn't have to worry about seeing hatred in the eyes of someone looking at her. One of the few times that she could feel safe with someone else.

Looking up from the stack of papers that he had just received from his assistant, the Sandaime smiled at Naru, "Hello Naru-chan how have you been lately?"

"I've been ok Ji-chan. Can we go out for ramen?!" Naru asked excitedly. This was one of the few times she could eat as much as she liked, seeing as she didn't have to foot the bill.

"Absolutely Naru-chan, however I need to finish the last of this paperwork first. Have a seat on the couch and I'll take you once I am finished." the Sandaime replied, already lamenting the soon to be dent in his wallet.

For a time the office remained almost silent, only the steady scratching of the Sandaime's pen on the forms in front of him breaking the monotony. Attempting to try and break the silence again, the Sandaime decided to strike up another conversation glancing up at Naru, "So how has the Academy been Naru-chan?"

Almost instantly the Sandaime noticed a slight change in Naru's face. 'Should I ask him again? He'll just say he can't tell me, just like last time. Why is he keeping things about me secret from ME?'

"Naru, is everything ok?" the Sandaime asked with a voice full of concern, stopping the rhythmic scratching of his pen.

"Why does everyone hate me Ji-chan?" Naru asked quietly.

"Everyone doesn't hate you Naru-chan, you know that." The Sandaime replied wearily trying to avert the argument that he knew was to come once again.

"YES THEY DO!" Naru yelled with tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes, "Why does everyone always look at me like I did something bad? Why do my teachers always pick on me and not someone else? Why did my last teacher call me Whiskers in front of the whole class?"

The Sandaime looked at Naru sobbing on the couch feeling a pang of guilt, not for the first time. 'Minato, what the hell am I supposed to do?'

Having caught her breath somewhat, Naru continued, "I know you aren't going to answer me, you never do!"

"I know it may not seen like I am being fair Naru-chan, but I do have my reasons. When you are older, I can tell you all that you wish to know, but until then I can't. I'm sorry Naru-chan but I just can't. I hope that when you are older you will understand why I have done what I am doing, and I can only wish that you will forgive me." The Sandaime answered with a heavy heart leaning back in his chair, the paperwork forgotten. It was at times like these that he really felt his age. He had spent his time as Hokage in his youth, when he was known as the God of Shinobi, however now he was a much older man. That doesn't mean he was ever to be underestimated, but a lifetime of toil does take its' toll upon people.

Noticing the mood that the Sandaime had fallen into, Naru felt even worse. 'Of course Ji-chan is doing all he can to help...right? It's just so hard sometimes, and now I made Ji-chan feel sad too.'

After gathering himself from his contemplation, the Sandaime decided to lighten the mood via the only method that he had learned over the years which worked every time, we all have to bask in our small victories right? "How about we go get that ramen Naru-chan? The lunch rush is over now, so you'll be able to get ramen extra fast."

Putting on a smile that she didn't entirely feel, Naru answered, "Yes, ramen! Let's go Ji-chan, hurry before they eat all of the ramen!" adding a slight wail at the end to get the desired effect.

The Sandaime smiled at Naru, feeling that he had, for at least the time being, gotten her mind off of her troubles. However, he had something to take care of before they went out for ramen, "Naru-chan, would you wait just outside of my office, I have to lock some things up before we go, not to mention I need to fatten up my wallet a bit."

"Sure thing Ji-chan, make sure to be ready because I am going to eat lots of ramen." Naru answered with a smile as she shut the door behind herself to wait outside the office.

Once he was sure that the door was sealed the Sandaime's smile faded and he called out, "Cat! Eagle!" Almost immediately two ANBU landed in front of the Sandaime in a crouched position ready to receive orders. "You two, find out who Naru-chan's instructor was for the genin orientation. I made an effort to make sure each and every instructor understood that they were to treat Naru as any other student. It is obvious one did not understand. Make sure that they know what it means to disobey orders from the Hokage."

The two masked ANBU nodded and vanished in a swirl of leaves. With that the Sandaime opened the doors to his office, "Are you ready to eat some ramen Naru-chan?"

"Hai Ji-chan" With that Naru grabbed the Sandaime's hand and they left the tower together to consume the glory that is ramen.

--Scene Break--

"Alright class, today we will begin our first section of practical field training..." This was as far as the instructor got before she was interrupted by a massive outpouring of joy from the young Kunoichi to be.

"ALRIGHT!!" "WooHooo finally awesome ninjutsu..." "I can't believe this day has finally come..." Needless to say the young Kunoichi were overjoyed at the prospect of finally being able to learn something practical.

"I'm glad to see that all of you are so determined to master this training. However, do NOT interrupt me again." The teacher glared at the girls until they quieted down before she continued, "We are going to begin with kunai training. Each of you will be given a set of kunai to use for training. These are yours to keep, so we expect you all to take care of them. Many times Shinobi and Kunoichi have owed their lives to their kunai and shuriken, so do not underestimate or mistreat these weapons."

With that being said the instructor began passing out sets of kunai to the students of the class. Each consisting of a black satchel that contained a kunai holster as well as a set of new mint kunai. Each and every student sat in anticipation, waiting to receive their first set of weaponry ever. The shiny black surface of the kunai blades making many of the girls stare in awe at the beautiful simplicity of this deadly weapon. As the instructor was passing Naru she dropped a black satchel on Naru's desk rather forcefully and walked away immediately, almost as if she were afraid to be near Naru.

Expecting a set of mostly destroyed and deteriorating kunai, Naru was quite surprised when she opened the satchel, 'I-I can't believe it.' Naru pulled from the satchel a set of pristine black kunai, just like every other girl in class. Naru couldn't help but examine them each closely, amazed that for once she wasn't forced to use equipment that was far beyond disrepair. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she strapped her kunai holster on, 'Maybe sensei doesn't hate me like the others. She has to be tough on us to make sure we are good Kunoichi. Maybe Ji-chan was right, not everyone hates me.'

"Now that all of you have your weapons, we will be heading out to the range. Follow me out of the building and do not lag behind, you don't want to know what will happen if you lag behind." The teacher ended menacingly.

All of the students trailed out of the class in groups, with Naru bringing up the rear by herself. As they were all passing the offices on the way to the stairwell that led to the training fields Naru couldn't help but overhear part of a very interesting conversation,

"Did you hear about Kujira-san?" Spoke one man.

"Kujira-san? OH, was he the man that taught this last group of genin for their orientation? He hasn't shown up to work in a while though, what happened?" Asked the older woman.

" Yeah, that's him. He was picked up by the ANBU last week and was just released yesterday." he spoke silently, just as Naru was leaving earshot.

'ANBU?! What in the hell did he do to get picked up by the ANBU?' Naru asked herself. Against some of her better judgment Naru stopped walking to the stairwell and snuck up on the slightly ajar door.

"My god! What did he do?" The woman asked in a hushed tone.

"I'm not sure, but the word around is he got in trouble because of the Uzumaki girl. Remember the Sandaime's orientation about treating her just like the other kids, well it's seems Kujira-san didn't quite get the message." He replied.

"That demon is only trouble, I wish she would have died as a child." The woman replied with venom in her voice.

"Kujira-san wasn't the brightest man around. He got nailed because he was going out of his way to antagonize the girl. However, just ignoring her would not have gotten him in trouble, hell the classes are so big you can't be blamed for ignoring one or two kids right?" the man spoke with laughter in his voice.

"True, too true. Well, I have to get prepared for a class, I'll see you around." The woman's reply was quickly followed by the scuffling of chairs on the floor.

Fearing that she was going to get caught Naru ran down the stairwell and after the rest of the class, barely able to see some of the kids off in the distance. As she ran, Naru's mind was racing, 'Ji-chan had him picked up by ANBU for what he did to me? Is he even allowed to do that? He's the Hokage, I guess he can. Now the teachers hate me even more though. I guess being ignored is better than them being out to get me just like the girls in class.'

Naru's train of thought stopped dead once she caught up with the rest of the class. The instructor was staring right at her and smiling. 'No one ever smiles at me except Ji-chan, what's going on?' Naru pondered as she came up to the group at a jog.

"I thought I said not to lag behind Uzumaki? Perhaps you weren't listening in my class?" The instructor asked with a feral grin on her face.

"I-I I'm sorry sensei." Naru replied in a quiet voice looking at the grass.

The instructors grin got even wider as she looked at Naru. The rest of the class was snickering and laughing at her standing in front of them all...alone.

"Well Uzumaki, it seems that you are going to learn why I said you didn't want to know what was going to happen if you lagged behind aren't you? Class, it seems that Uzumaki-san here thinks she is too good to follow the rest of us. She has to make a grand entrance by herself. Well, I think that's actually impressive. Tell you what Uzumaki, for all of the kunai training we are going to do you can practice by yourself while everyone else has partners. Maybe then you will learn not to leave the group and make an entrance by yourself." she finished the smile on her face getting impossibly wide at this point.

"Ok class, pair up! Each group of you take a log to practice throwing kunai at. After you are all set up I will demonstrate how to properly throw a kunai and then travel to each of your groups and help perfect any flaws in your techniques." The instructor ordered, watching all of the girls group up and choose logs.

As Naru was walking towards a log on the far end near the forest, she heard, "Can't resist showing off huh Whiskers? Not that you really have anything to show off now do you?" Naru turned to see Ino, Sakura and many others from what was quickly becoming known as the official Sasuke fan-club. Naru simply closed her eyes and continued towards her log, not wanting them to see how much that name actually effected her.

With all of the girls lined up, the instructor moved to the log in the center. "Now, all of you watch my hips as I throw the first set of kunai." With that the instructor took a step forward with her left foot, twisted her torso, and threw the kunai so fast that many had trouble watching it. "The hips are where you derive your power from. Many believe that your arms are what you throw with and that is where all the power comes from. However that is wrong, when you twist your torso during the throw you bring your whole body into it, making it that much more powerful. Now watch me one more time, but watch my hands."

With that the instructor repeated it once more, this time with all of the girls watching her hands. "Now, although how you hold the kunai is important, what I wanted you to see is when I released the kunai. Although you may not understand it yet, kunai are not designed to fly through the air like shuriken. They make an arc..." the instructor demonstrated by moving her hand in a semi-circle, "and this is why the time of release is so important. The further the target is away the higher you will have to release the kunai, you will also need to put in some extra power. These are not things that can necessarily be taught, and this is why we are here, and will be here for the next 3 months. These are things that you can only learn by doing." The instructor finished looking around the class.

"THREE MONTHS?!" "You can't mean we are going to throw these things every day for three months?" "nooooo..."

"What's that, did I hear any of you whining about training?" the instructor asked toxically. "That's what I thought." the instructor responded after a moment of silence from the young kunoichi. "Now, for the rest of the time you are all going to take turns throwing kunai while your partner watches you, and I will come along to provide assistance to groups as it is needed."

With that a dull swishing sounds filled the woods as the first set of girls to throw kunai all had them land in the dirt well in front of the logs. "Remember what I said about the hips!" the instructor barked.

Naru not having a partner to watch stopped after a while to watch the other girls in their attempts at hitting the logs. While she was looking around she saw the instructor demonstrating to Ino the twisting of her hips as she threw the kunai. After a couple of demonstrations and hands on assistance as she led Ino's body through the movements, she let Ino try again. With that the first thud of metal on wood was heard in the clearing, closely followed by Ino's cheers.

"I did it, I did it! Oh yes, take that everyone, Sasuke-kun is going to be mine! How are you doing over there Whiskers, still can't hit the wood?" Ino laughed towards the end, earning giggles from all those around her.

Naru quickly turned away, not wanting to be caught watching by any more people than she already had been. A renewed determination filled her as she watched each of the girls that were helped by the instructor hit the log. Finally, everyone in the class except her was hitting part of the log, or at least the dirt very close to it with a great amount of regularity.

'Why am I the only one that still has kunai going all around the log almost randomly? What in the world is she showing them?!' Naru screamed inside her mind.

"S-Sensei, can you...um...can you help me like the others?" Naru asked almost dreading the response, but she was getting nowhere.

"I thought I made myself quite clear actually Uzumaki, I said I would be assisting 'groups' and as you can plainly see, you are not part of a group now are you? Maybe next time you will listen to me when I give the class instructions." the instructor replied with another one of those horrible smiles and then walked away.

Getting frustrated Naru grabbed one of her kuani and stared at it thinking about what was said during the beginning of the class. 'Hips, the hips are the key to power she said.' With that Naru began twisting side to side, slowly at first and then building up speed. As she looked down Naru saw something interesting, 'My feet are actually digging into the ground?' Naru tried another quick twist to the side and sure enough he feet dug into the ground.

'So the quicker I make the twist and the more of my body I use the deeper my foot digs. That's the power she was talking about!' Naru cheered in her mind having understood part of the process. 'So the next step was to find the right place to release the kunai. It looked like sensei was releasing it almost in a straight line out from her shoulder. So put them together and I should hit the log!'

With that Naru made another attempt at the log. 'Twist and throw!!' Naru thought to herself as she watched the kunai leave her hands. It landed with another dull swish as it dug into the grass right in front of the log.

"What's the matter Whiskers, you still haven't hit the log? Seriously, are you sure you should be a Kunoichi?" asked one of the girls off to her right, while all the rest of them laughed at her predicament.

"Alright class, that's it for today. Everyone gather up your kunai and take them home with you. I expect them to be just as clean as when you received them by tomorrow morning. That is all, go home." The instructor stated just before she left in a swirl of leaves.

Naru was the last to leave the training grounds as one of her kunai had flown further into the woods, which she was unable to find.

A figure sitting in one of the trees hidden by a genjutsu watched Naru leave the field with slumped shoulders. 'She has so much potential', he commented to himself as he repeatedly flipped a kunai into the air and caught it by the handle. 'Her potential is just being suppressed by closed minded fools.' The figure in the woods caught the kunai by the handle once again and looked at the weapon closely.

'Off balance by almost 4 ounces on the back end. It's within acceptable Shinobi standards, but that's for experienced shinobi who can account for the deviation in the balance, not for someone just beginning to learn. Not to mention the instructor left out one more crucial piece of information from her demonstration. Well, technically she didn't. How you hold the kunai is very important.'

With that the figure vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving no evidence to him having ever been there.

--Scene Break--

"WHY!" Naru yelled into the clearing. She had been trying to better her kunai abilities the last two days, not only in class, but after class ended as well. Everyone else in the class could at least hit the log with regularity now, although none of them were anywhere near the target, and even if they were it was maybe once during the entire class. Naru was the only one who couldn't hit the log with any regularity, and the entire class was using this as a perfect opportunity to degrade her, trying to goad her into quitting.

"Well I won't quit! You hear me, I won't!!" Naru yelled into the woods once again, sinking down to her knees, looking at the ground.

"I don't want you to. It would be quite a waste of exceptional talent I think."

"Who said that?!" Naru yelled jumping to her feet and holding the kunai in her hand ready to fight if she had to.

"I did."

Naru spun around and saw a man standing there repeatedly tossing a kunai into the air and catching it again. HER kunai! He was about average height, with short cropped black hair that spiked up in a random fashion around his head. Pale smooth skin and deep green eyes. He was dressed in a standard chuunin uniform with a forehead protector around his bicep signaling him as a ninja of Konoha. "Why do you have my kunai?!"

"It's generally considered polite to introduce one's self before a conversation begins. My name is Kenji, and your name is?" He asked in a polite voice.

Still somewhat wary of the man, Naru didn't respond immediately. 'His eyes. They don't shine with hatred or disgust like everyone else...' "My name is Naru, Uzumaki Naru." She finally responded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Uzumaki-san. Now as for why I have your kunai. I was patrolling in the woods when I came upon a group of young kunoichi training so I decided to stop and watch for a bit, see how things are taught these days. I can definitely say I don't like what I see."

"Hey, are you looking down on Kunoichi?!" Naru yelled at him, thinking he was putting them down.

"No definitely not. I was appalled at your instructor. To so obviously leave one student out of training is very unwise. Not to mention providing that student with faulty equipment as well as leaving out one of the most important parts of throwing a kunai." He spoke, staring Naru in the eye's the entire time.

"B-But I looked at them..." Naru pulled out one of her kunai to show, "they are just like everyone else's." She finished.

"To someone with no training as a ninja yes they do look to be the same. However try holding this one." He handed her a kunai from the pouch on his side. Taking it into her hand Naru definitely noticed a difference, although she couldn't be sure what it was.

'It definitely feels different, but why?' "It feels different, what's wrong with mine?" she asked, feeling more comfortable with the stranger.

"You kunai are not balanced well. It is within the acceptable range of deviation for regular shinobi, however you are not regular, you are just learning. Seasoned Shinobi can account for the deviation in the balance and still hit their marks, a kunoichi in training doesn't have a hope of hitting anything with this."

"I should have known." Naru spoke bitterly, looking at the kunai in her hand. "I should have KNOWN something like this would happen. Why can't I ever catch a BREAK?!" Naru yelled, clenching her hand over the kunai. Suddenly a black satchel was thrust into her line of vision.

"What's this?" she asked confused.

"It's a set of proper kunai. I had a spare set, and I think you could put them to better use than just sitting in my store room, don't you think?" He asked smiling at her as he held out the satchel.

'Why? I don't understand, why would he, a complete stranger want to help me. No one wants to help me.' Naru thought staring at the black satchel.

**Flashback**

"Everyone doesn't hate you Naru-chan, you know that." The Sandaime replied wearily.

**End Flashback**

'Maybe Ji-chan is right. Not everyone hates me, he was telling the truth about the kunai now that I held this other one.' Naru debated internally.

"Why? Why would you, a complete stranger help someone like me?" she asked him.

"Why wouldn't I? If you saw someone hurting would you just walk away? Would you not help them?" he asked her in turn.

"Of course I would, what makes you think I wouldn't?" She asked angrily.

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" He said triumphantly. Naru opened and shut her mouth a couple of times trying to find something to say, and finding nothing.

"No one else helps me. They go out of their way to hurt me." She replied quietly after a moment of thought.

"I will not blame you for something that you have no control over Uzumaki-san, unlike some other people. All I see is an orphan hurting and alone. I may not always be able to help you, but I want to try." He said seriously, holding out the satchel once again.

Slowly Naru took the satchel from him and held it to her chest. 'No one besides Ji-chan has ever given me anything.' She thought, holding onto the satchel tightly, tears starting to show in her eyes. "T-Thank you, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. Now there is one other thing, the important part of kunai throwing that your instructor showed to all of the other students but not you." He began.

"I knew IT! I knew she was showing them something. Every single person she went to got better after she showed them something!" She spoke heatedly.

"Yes, your instructor eluded to it but never directly pointed it out to you. The way that you hold your kunai is actually very important Uzumaki-san..." he instructed, but was interrupted.

"Naru-chan. Y-you can call me Naru-chan." She spoke softly.

"Naru-chan." he smiled, "Well, the way that you hold your kunai is actually very important Naru-chan. It defines the way in which the kunai will leave your hand, and that defines how the kunai will glide. To throw a kunai properly, you need to place the ring at the end in the palm of your hand, and when you throw it, let the ring part of the kunai slide out of your hand through the space between your thumb and index finger. This will ensure that the kunai flies straight. "

Naru placed the kunai in her hand ring end first, trying to palm it correctly. Kenji walked up to her and grabbed her hand and the kunai showing her exactly how it was supposed to sit in her hand and how the kunai was supposed to slide out when she threw it.

"You actually have very good form Naru-chan, as you have been practicing on that extensively for the past two days. With this last bit of information, I think you will find yourself very adept at throwing kunai." He told her with a smile.

Hope sprung into her heart, Naru turned to one of the worn logs at the end of the range. Taking her stance and twisting her hips, Naru threw the kunai letting the ring slide between her fingers as Kenji had shown her. A resounding thud echoed throughout the woods and Naru stood there staring at the log.

"I hit it." she spoke in awe, "I HIT IT!!" She yelled jumping up and down. Taking another kunai she repeated the action with another thud echoing throughout the woods. Turning to Kenji she ran up to him and hugged him around the middle.

"T-Thank you. Thank you so much." She cried into him.

"You're welcome Naru-chan." He responded patting her on the head, smiling at her.

"I guess Ji-chan was right, not everyone hates me." She said as she backed away smiling.

"I could never hate you Naru-chan." Looking at the sky he noticed the position of the sun. "I'm sorry Naru-chan, but I have to be going. I've been gone too long." He said as he turned to walk into the woods.

"Wait, I don't know where you live or how I can ever find you again." She pleaded after him.

"I'm sorry Naru-chan, but I can't tell you where I live." He responded with a frown.

"W-why, I thought you were going to help me." She began, confused as to what was going on.

"I am going to help you Naru-chan. However, if people found out that I was helping you they would try to put a stop to it. The only reason I have been able to teach you anything today is because no one knows I am here. If they saw you at my house then they would notice something was up." He explained.

"How could anyone stop you from teaching me, they aren't allowed to do that!" She replied angrily.

"Naru-chan, there are many things you don't know about the politics surrounding yourself. There ARE people that would try to stop me, and it would cause a great amount of trouble for both of us, not to mention that my training of you would most likely have to cease as a result." He slowly told her, keeping his voice calm.

"You know too!? You know why people hate me? How can you be allowed to know and not ME?!" She yelled stomping her feet in frustration.

"Naru-chan, I know but not because I chose to know. However, I have to agree with the Sandaime-sama on this, you cannot know of the reasons until you are older. Please understand Naru-chan, I will tell you soon, just NOW is not the time. I have much to teach you before I can reveal those secrets to you." He replied somberly.

"Much to teach me?" She asked questioningly, "You mean you are going to teach me more than just throwing kunai?!" she asked excitedly.

"Of course, I said I would help you right? I am going to help you become one of the best Kunoichi in Konoha." He stated with a smile. "But now I really do have to go. Remember, no one can know that I am teaching you."

"How will we meet again?" She asked pleadingly.

"I will find you when I am able to help train you more, do not worry. Until then Naru-chan, know that not everyone hates you." With a smile and a wave, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

A/N: Woot! Ok, goal for reviews.... 1. I don't set the bar high =)


	3. Chapter 3

General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the associated characters. With that said, on with the story.

A/N: Well, I achieved my goal for reviews with everyone's help! I'll stop the review pleading, though hopefully my story eventually becomes such that you will feel compelled to review =P

The day began as so many others had throughout Naru's young life, however there was a glaring distinction between those past mornings and this one in particular. As Naru stretched her arms into the air to warm her muscles up a bit she couldn't get a singular thought out of her mind, revenge.

'Today is the day. I am finally going to show all of those fan-girls and that horrible teacher what Uzumaki Naru can do!' she cheered mentally.

As she was getting out of bed a black satchel caught her eye sitting on a chair in the corner of her room. The gift that was going to change her ninja career, and the only gift she had ever received from a stranger. That simple black satchel was the material confirmation of what the Sandaime had been telling her throughout her entire life, "Everyone doesn't hate you Naru-chan, you know that."

Having finished her morning rituals of showering, combing her hair into the signature twin ponytails that she is known for, and brushing her teeth, Naru strapped her most prized possession snuggly against the side of her body and was finally ready to head out to the academy.

'Yes, today is going to be different. Today I am finally going to show everyone at the Academy that I am not worthless, that I exist!'

With that final thought Naru headed out of her apartment and towards the academy.

--Scene Break--

The classroom was noisy as usual, all of the girls talking about how they were advancing in their kunai training, how their families were getting ready to teach them clan techniques, or inevitably Sasuke-kun. However, as all of the young kunoichi learned quickly, the moment that Nishimura-sensei walked into the room that meant your are supposed to be silent or face the consequences, which were often dire. This morning was no different.

"Class!" the instructor yelled, noticing that she had everyone's undivided attention she continued, "As I have told you all before we are heading out to the ranges to continue training with kunai. Hopefully all of you will finally be able to hit the target instead of caking your kunai in mud. Now before we start the practical portion of today, does anyone remember what I told you needs to be done to your kunai before the next class?" the instructor finished, looking around the auditorium for someone to answer.

"S-Sensei, you told us that our kunai are supposed to be as clean as when you gave them to us before we started our next class." Sakura finally managed to get out.

The instructor nodded with a smile, "Good Sakura. You have a great memory. Now, all of you line your kunai across the desk in front of you and I will come around to inspect them to make sure you can all follow instructions. All I can say is they better not be dirty. I believe after yesterday's lesson you can all imagine what happens when you break my rules?" the instructor finished with a dangerous tone.

With that the room was filled with the sounds of clanking steel as kunai were pulled from their satchels and lined up on desks throughout the room. The instructor slowly walked throughout the room, stopping at each desk. From every set in the room kunai were selected at random, and scrutinized by the instructor, every nook and cranny inspected for a lack of attention to detail on the part of the young kunoichi. Finally the instructor came to Naru with a noticeable predatory grin spreading across her face. However, that grin vanished immediately when the instructor picked up one of Naru's kunai to inspect and it was replaced by one of malice, much like the one Naru saw when she was late to the training fields.

"Uzumaki. Where are the kunai I gave you?" the instructor commanded.

"What do you mean sensei? These are the kunai you gave me, I showed them to Ji-chan and everything. He seemed to be happy that you gave me a proper set of kunai and said he wouldn't have to mess with ANBU again. Why, did you give me different kunai?" Naru replied trying to sound innocent.

The instructor paled almost immediately.

'These are definitely not the kunai that I gave her, those were all off balance slightly. Hokage-same can't have been the one to give them to her otherwise I probably would have been visited by ANBU. The little bitch seems to know about that somehow too, I wonder how.' The instructor thought with a frown growing larger on her face as she studied the kunai.

"Well Uzumaki I guess I was mistaken, these are the kunai I gave you. They seem satisfactory, be sure to keep them cleaner in the future though." the instructor finished hurriedly and walked to the front of the class again. "Alright everyone, lets head back out to the ranges, and don't be late. Just in case you still have some misunderstanding, this applies to you as well Uzumaki." With that the instructor left the room confident that all of the kunoichi in training would follow right behind her.

"Try not to be late this time Whiskers, I don't want to know what she is going to do to you if you are." Ino finished with a smirk as she ran past Naru to follow the instructor.

'Just you wait Ino, I'm going to show all of you today.'

--Scene Break--

Once the instructor had finally reached the ranges she turned around to make sure there were not any stragglers. Not wanting to have a repeat of last time, all of the students were running up right behind the instructor, Naru among them.

"All right ladies, today we are going to once again practice on kunai precision. Until the end of today's class I want all of you except Uzumaki to pair up and take a log. Uzumaki, your punishment is still in effect, so you grab a log by yourself. You will watch your partners throw kunai and help them adjust their technique as well as adjusting your own. Right now we are going to focus on precision, later we will focus on accuracy. So for now try to get your kunai to fly in a regular pattern. Hitting the target is good, but if you can't do it repeatedly, then your skills are worthless." The instructor told them all with a level tone.

All of the girls split up into groups taking logs at one end of the range. Naru not being allowed to have a partner, and not necessarily wanting one headed to the middle of the range so as to be somewhat close to the others for her demonstration to come.

As Naru was getting ready, focusing on her target, the other girls couldn't help but comment, "Whiskers, how can you not hit the log still? I mean it's pretty simple right?"

With that said one of the girls in the group slung a kunai across the range and hit the log on the far side of the target. Nowhere near the actual bull's-eye, but hitting the target log at all was an accomplishment for most at this point. Naru didn't bother to respond and instead took a stance facing the target with one foot forward.

'I can do this. Kenji-san helped me so much and I won't let him down. Plus I am going to show them all finally that I am just as good if not better than them!' Naru thought while looking down the range at her target, 'Ok, twist the hips...' Naru's feet dug into the ground with the torque she was generating, 'release towards the target and let slip between my thumb and index finger!'

A heavy thud echoed through the immediate vicinity of Naru's log and the kunai was sticking out directly beneath the bull's-eye. All of the girls simply stared at Naru, Whiskers was the first one to get that close to the bull's-eye.

"T-That's luck, you can't do it again. You couldn't even hit the log before, so it's luck." One of the girls in the group continued.

"It's not luck if I do it again right, that means it's skill?" Naru asked, trying to trap the girl.

"Yeah, but you can't do it again. Go ahead and try Whiskers." the girl replied sneering at Naru.

Naru turned from the girl and took a stance facing the log once again. Having her confidence boosted from her previous success, Naru launched her second kunai. This time the screech of steel on steel as well as the sound of steel penetrating wood was heard. The second kunai had hit just barely above the first, actually striking it slightly as it embedded itself into the bull's-eye.

"So it's skill right?" Naru asked triumphantly.

"Whatever Whiskers, so you can throw a kunai. That doesn't mean you aren't a loser. You'll always be a loser don't you get that? Soon enough we are all going to be better than you, and then your lucky throws won't mean anything." The girl finished before walking away.

The instructor stood watching the interaction of Naru and the others from a distance. A frown, which was quickly becoming her most common facial feature, gracing her face once again.

'How the hell did she get so good? First the kunai that I gave her disappear and a new pristine high grade set of kunai show up, and then she figured out how to hold a kunai correctly. Although it isn't necessarily guarded knowledge, it's not something that is intuitive. What the hell is going on?' The instructor pondered worriedly.

--Scene Break & Time Skip( 3 Months)--

"By now all of you are at the very least proficient in the art of throwing kunai. It has been a long three months, but you have all made it past the first hurdle on your path towards being Kunoichi. I expect the same drive and dedication that you all put forth during kunai training in the rest of the training that we are going to do." The instructor finished while looking across the room of evolving. Her gaze lingering perhaps a bit longer on Naru.

'I don't know how the hell that girl is pulling it off. I thought for sure that when we advanced to moving targets that she wouldn't be able to keep up without my helping her. However, time and time again she was somehow able to learn to accomplish every task without my assistance. Is she getting help from someone? She can't be though, no one would teach that demon. It sure as hell isn't skill, there is no way that child can amount to anything.' The instructor pondered.

"We now are going to begin the part of your training that will ultimately dictate whether or not you will be able to become a kunoichi of Konoha." The instructor continued, "The next segment of training that we are embarking on is chakra manipulation. We won't be trying to mold chakra for about a week still because most of you probably can't even feel your chakra yet. So for the next week we are going to focus on meditation exercises in order to get you prepared for molding your chakra."

The class was silent for a moment before a roar of noise broke out. "Finally, what being a ninja is all about..." "Hell yeah!" "Ninjutsu, I want to learn fire ninjutsu!"

"Shut the hell up! No one is going to be learning any ninjutsu for a while. You have to be able to crawl before you can walk and it's the same with ninjutsu. You have to be able to mold a constant flow of chakra well before you are able to perform any jutsu." 'They always go crazy when you mention ninjutsu. All the manners trained into them goes out the window.' the instructor sighed mentally.

The class became quiet once again, although much slower than was usual. They couldn't really be blamed, the ability to utilize chakra is what sets Shinobi and Kunoichi apart from regular mercenaries. Not to mention all of the most amazing and devastating jutsu involve chakra in one form or another.

"Alright everyone, we are going to head out to the field behind the academy, that is where we will be doing our meditation exercises. Let's go." the instructor barked out to the class which still wasn't totally quiet.

--Scene Break - Behind Academy--

"Now everyone listen up! Chakra is an internal force that flows throughout your body. Since it is with you from the moment of your birth it is something that you have never really been able to feel consciously. So this exercise is designed to force you to feel the flow of your chakra, and once you can feel it's flow you will be able to redirect that flow as you see fit for ninjutsu and many other jutsu." The instructor now had the complete attention of every single student, "The exercise is accomplished through the following: You put your fingers into the ram seal..." the instructor demonstrated for the class, "....and then you close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Slow down your breathing and try to feel your body as each breath enters and leaves. There is a rhythm to your body, focus on that, it follows the flow of your chakra. Once you are able to focus your mind completely on the rhythm, you will discover your chakra. I can't really describe the feeling of the revelation, but trust me, you will know when you have discovered it." The instructor finished her speech while staring at the group of young girls.

"Well what the hell are you waiting for, get out there and start meditating" the instructor yelled at them.

With that, all of the young girls ran out into the field and tried to do just as they were instructed. To anyone else it might have looked kind of weird a bunch of girls standing stock still near the woods eyes closed and hands held out in front of them. However, any member of Konoha's forces would know exactly what was going on, as they had all gone through it as well.

'Focus on my breathing...' Naru spoke internally, '....try to feel the rhythm of my body.' Rise, fall, rise, fall, in, out, in, out......rise, out, in, fall, rise, out, in, fall. 'I don't understand what I am supposed to feel beyond the rhythm of my body. The rhythm leads the flow? How the hell is that supposed to be? She's gotta be full of crap.' Naru grumbled to herself.

"Alright, that's it for today. You can all go home. Be prepared for more meditation tomorrow." the instructor called out to the class.

One girl called out, "Sensei it doesn't seem like we have been out here for very long, is class over early today?"

"That simply means you were doing the meditation correctly. It has actually been 5 hours, it just seems like a far lesser amount of time because your meditative state changed your perception of the flow of time." The instructor replied before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

--Scene Break - 2 days later--

"I know many of you are probably getting frustrated at this point however the vague instructions that I gave you are all that any kunoichi has ever received. There is not much more we can tell you, it is something you need to discover on your own. So today we will be continuing with the meditation exercises. Just so that you know, this is kind of an impromptu test. If you can't feel your chakra and then mold it successfully at the end of the week, your kunoichi careers will be over before they ever start." the instructor finished gravely.

"The HELL, you should have said that sooner!" "What do you mean an impromptu test?!" "OH Kami-sama!"

For once the instructor did not yell but calmly replied, "Like I said, this is how it has always been done. So do you best." the instructor finished with an infuriating smile.

So once again all of the girls went out into the field near the woods, but with renewed determination. Naru as usual was fairly far away from the group, near the edge of the woods practicing by herself.

'I have to do this! I can't let Kenji-san down, not after all he has done for me. He even agreed to teach me ninjutsu later. I have to get this so I don't disappoint him.' Naru thought to herself with an iron resolve.

**Flashback**

"Kenji-san, can we practice ninjutsu now? I think I am good enough with kunai now." Naru spoke hopefully.

Kenji shook his head, "I am sorry Naru-chan, I can't teach you ninjutsu yet. There is a saying that is applicable to this situation Naru-chan, and I want you to listen to it carefully, 'You need to look underneath the underneath.' Your instructor hasn't begun teaching ninjutsu nor molding chakra, so people would know for sure that you had someone help teach you outside of class if you suddenly were able to perform katon jutsu or the like."

"Oh..I understand Kenji-san." Naru replied with a frown.

Crouching down Kenji continued, "It's not that I don't want to teach you Naru-chan, believe me I do. However we have to keep my teaching you a secret remember? Once you have begun learning ninjutsu in class I will begin teaching you ninjutsu, but not before. Don't worry, I know you will pick up ninjutsu quickly" He replied ruffling Naru's hair.

**End Flashback**

'I will not let him down! Focus on my breathing, feel the rhythm.' Rise, fall, rise, fall, in, out, in, out......rise, out, in, fall, rise, out, in, fall. 'What am I looking for?' Rise, fall, in, out, rise, swirl 'Wait! Swirl? Yeah, swirling but where?' Naru thought excitedly, 'My stomach!' Swirl, rise, fall, in, out, flow. 'Flow, the flow! I can feel something, in my arms, my legs, my entire body, kind of like water on my skin but different. It feels kind of chaotic though in my stomach, kind of like a stormy ocean. This must be my chakra, I found it Kenji-san, I found it!'

--Scene Break - End of the week at the test--

"Alright class, today is the day that will decide your kunoichi futures. I will call you up one by one and you will all follow my instructions. Now that you can feel your chakra, it is a trivial thing to begin molding it. We also have some guests today so be on your BEST behavior, is that understood?!" the instructor asked menacingly.

"Yes Sensei!" the class chorused back to her.

"Good. I will go tell our guests that we are ready." With that the instructor left the room, but not for long. Shortly after she returned, but with a plethora on ANBU following her. After many had lost count, the Sandaime came in along with another man having long black hair, and white pupil-less eyes. Then a score more of ANBU followed them until the room was almost packed.

'What is ji-chan doing here? Doesn't he have better things to do as Hokage than come watch us?' Naru thought to herself.

"All of you, bow to Hokage-sama and Hiashi-sama!" the instructor yelled.

"There is no need for that Nishimura-kun. I am happy to meet what will be the next generation of Kunoichi for the village of Konoha. I look forward to all of your success here today. Hiashi-san is my guest and we will just be watching today." As the Sandaime was speaking the ANBU spread throughout the room, a couple more positioning themselves near Naru, a bit too close for her comfort.

'The hell, I hate these guys. Why are they grouping up near me? They think I am going to attack ji-chan? Why would I do that, I love him. I can't get anyone to trust me. No, Kenji-san is trusting me to keep our training secret, and I'll never fail him.' Naru spoke to herself.

Most of the class had gone already. When each one molded chakra, a slight glow was visible, but just barely. Then came Naru's turn.

"Uzumaki-san. It's your turn, get down here." The instructor commanded.

Almost perceptibly all of the ANBU in the room tensed up. The action was not lost on anyone, but only a very select few understood it. One of the ANBU, the commander, spoke quietly to the Hokage, "Hokage-sama we are to follow the plan discussed earlier correct?"

"Yes Dog, however do not let any of your men move without my command is that understood? Hiashi-san and myself will make the decision of whether or not your men move, and remember this: Your men are not to harm her. Should the worst come to pass, I want you to subdue her and knock her unconscious not kill her. The repercussions should you kill her will be beyond severe, is that understood?" The Sandaime uttered threateningly.

"Yes Hokaga-sama." the dog masked ANBU commander replied.

At this point Naru had reached the floor of the room and turned to face everyone else. A few girls were talking behind their hands, no doubt gossiping and hoping that she would fail.

"Ok Uzumaki-san, you can feel your chakra correct?" the instructor inquired.

"Yes Sensei."

"Alright then, to mold your chakra you need to focus on the calm swirl in your stomach. Try to increase it's action and guide the movement among your limbs and into the ram seal that you have. This is the essence of molding chakra."

'Calm swirl, what the hell? More like raging storm.' Naru thought worriedly. "So I just need to guide it's flow to the ram seal right?"

"Yes Uzumaki-san, that is what you need to do. Good luck." the instructor replied before walking away. 'At least they have the ANBU ready to take her out should anything happen.'

Naru watched the instructor walk away and then looked up to the Sandaime and his guest. 'Wait, did his eyes look like that before?' Naru asked herself after she saw the bulging veins around the man's eyes. 'Whatever, watch me ji-chan! I won't fail you Kenji-san!'

Naru placed her hands into the ram seal and then began focusing internally. She quickly found the storm in her stomach. However controlling it was a whole new issue all together.

'Increase the swirling and guide it up my body and into the ram seal? There is no way I can control that storm, but I need to try.' Naru mentally steeled herself, 'Ok, rise, fall, in, out, swirl, flow, rise, out, in, fall, swirl, flow!' The storm within her began to pulse and grow with Naru's mental nudges. The chatter in the room began to increase as time wore on, no one had taken this long yet.

"Hiashi-san, what can you see?" the Sandaime asked quietly.

"The girl is having trouble molding her chakra because there is so much and it's in such a chaos. However, I think we should see something soon." he replied.

"What about the Kyuubi." the Sandaime asked even more quietly than before the Hokage's hat now partially obscuring his aged face.

"It remains to be seen Hokage-sama. The Kyuubi's chakra is definitely there, but her body is doing it's best to convert it as it comes out. We will not know for sure what is to happen until she molds the chakra."

"Very well, thank you Hiashi-san. If anything drastic comes up inform me immediately and I will make the decision of whether or not to tell the ANBU to act." the Sandaime spoke gravely.

"Understood Hokage-sama."

'Rise, out, in, fall, swirl, FLOW!' Naru screamed mentally. Then it was as if a damn broke, the typhoon of blue and red chakra swirling within her broke out with almost surreal power. A shell of red and blue chakra formed a dome around Naru blowing dust, papers, and almost anything else that wasn't nailed down away from her and towards the back of the room.

"What the hell is she doing?!" One girl screamed, followed by another, "What's this feeling, what's going on?!" Girls in the front rows began scrambling back towards the ANBU stationed around the room. The ANBU themselves tensed recognizing the feeling that had scared the girls so.

"The power of the Kyuubi." the Dog masked ANBU whispered softly, the feeling of that menacing chakra burned into his memories and his nightmares. Out of the corner of his eye's he noticed movement that should not have been happening.

'It's the Kyuubi! It has come back to finish us all, I knew them letting that girl live was a horrible idea. I have to save everyone, I need to kill that demon before anything else happens! I will avenge my family Kyuubi!' The ANBU with the falcon mask thought to himself before he leapt into action.

Girls from the side of the room screamed as the ANBU pulled out a kunai and threw it, then charged after it towards Naru. Naru was about to open her eyes with a look of pure elation on them for having succeeded but instead opened them in confusion after hearing the screams.

'What the hell are they screaming f...' Naru opened her eyes in the direction of the screams and saw a kunai flying towards her. 'I can't dodge that, I didn't want my life to end this way. Ji-chan, are you going to watch me die? I'm sorry I won't be able to meet you again Kenji-san, I wish I could have done something to thank you for all that you have done for me.' Naru thought to herself with a tear sliding down one of her cheeks.

The next few moments were a blur, the actions involved being much too fast for Naru to even hope to follow with her untrained eyes. A metal clang, the sound of steel scraping against steel echoed throughout the room. Not a second later the falcon masked ANBU was grabbed by the arm and swung around straight into the elbow of another ANBU, this one wearing the mask of a dog. The elbow was quickly followed by a kick to the back of falcon's knee caps forcing him to fall to the ground where the dog masked ANBU forced his arms behind his back before delivering a final blow to the back of the neck.

All of this seemed to happen during an impossible amount of time. No sooner had Naru thought that she was going to die then the second ANBU had deflected the kunai and subdued the other ANBU.

'I-I'm alive? How did he move that fast? Aren't ANBU supposed to be the best of the best? Then how the hell did this other ANBU take him down like he was fighting a civilian? I don't even know what the HELL happened?' Naru's mind was racing due to the adrenaline in her system, and despite the massive amounts of thought flying through her mind she hadn't come across one which would tell her to move further away from the man that had tried to kill her.

Not more than a couple seconds after these thoughts had gone through Naru's mind more ANBU, an entire squad this time jumped into the center of the room around the falcon masked ANBU. No sooner had Naru recognized this than she felt herself being grabbed from behind.

"H-hey! Stop!" Naru yelled thinking it might be another ANBU intent on killing her.

"It's alright Naru." she heard a familiar voice say as she was pulled into the robes of the Sandaime Hokage. "My personal ANBU detail is here now and they have the situation under control, not to mention the ANBU commander is the one holding down falcon."

"A-ANBU commander." Naru repeated unsure still of what was going on.

"Yes, the ANBU commander. Don't worry Naru-chan, class is over for today. You are going to come with me to my office where we can be sure you are safe and then we'll go out for ramen ok?" The Sandaime told her in a commanding tone, leaving no doubt that he wasn't asking her, he was telling her.

As the Sandaime's grip on her tightened the last thing Naru saw was the ANBU with a dog mask look up from the falcon masked ANBU on the ground and directly at her.

"ANBU commander." Were the last words to leave Naru's lips as she stared at the mask of the man that had saved her life, or at least what she assumed was a man by the way he looked. Naru and the Sandaime then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

A/N: Ok. The outline that I had originally for chapter 3 ended up being a hell of a lot more story than I thought it would be. I am probably going to have to change it into chapters 3,4, and possibly 5. Anyways, I thought that this was a good place to stop. I soooo wanted to stop at the line I had where the tear was falling down Naru's cheek and made it a cliff hanger, but I'm not that big of a dick lol. I hope everyone is liking the story so far, and I am sorry that it takes me so long to update, but 2 weeks is probably what is going to be my standard at this point. Other than that I exceeded my goal of 1 review so I'm happy. Also, I don't think this will ruin anything, but I just want to say that besides miscellaneous characters such as the teacher and some girls in class there are no OC's in this story. Keep that in mind.


	4. Chapter 4

General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the associated characters. With that said, on with the story.

A/N: First of all I want to say sorry for the extremely late update. I have had a ton of RL stuff going on lately and was re-working the outline for this story just a tad. I so very much wanted to change it to integrate an idea that I had recently but I will most likely make that into another FemNaru story after I finish this one. I am not going to try and keep up with two stories at once lol. Anyways, thank you for everyone that has reviewed so far, they help inspire me to write when I know people enjoy the story.

The last thing Naru could remember seeing was the dog mask of the ANBU commander swiveling to stare at her, then the very next moment the whole world seemed to swirl around her. The disorientation that she felt was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

'W-what the hell happened, I-I think I'm going to puke', Naru moaned internally trying her best to keep whatever lunch she had in her stomach from making a second appearance. Dropping to her knee's and grabbing sides of her head with her hands, Naru was finally able to get her nausea under control. Once she finally felt that she would not lose her lunch by standing, Naru rose from the floor.

"Don't worry Naru you are not sick. That happens to all shinobi when they first travel via shunshin no jutsu.", the Hokage spoke softly to her as he walked around to his desk.

Having heard the Hokage's voice Naru turned her head to stare at him. Still somewhat disoriented, Naru was trying to gather her thoughts as to what had transpired in the past couple minutes. Everything started to come back in flashes, a kunai flying through the air, not being able to dodge, life about to end, never seeing Kenji-san again, never having thanked him, salvation, a dog masked ANBU, and the Hokage whisking her away. With all of these images swirling in her mind, the only phrase Naru could think to utter was, "W-what happened?"

The Hokage didn't respond immediately, taking the short amount of time to gather his thoughts on the matter, "Naru, the man that attacked you..." but before he could even really begin his explanation Naru interrupted him.

"You mean the ANBU that attacked me!" she broke in vehemently.

"He was having psychological problems lately. His medical advisor said he would still be suited for duty but obviously today has proved otherwise, do not worry though. The medical advisor that made the decision will be brought under review by the medical council later today." he finished hoping that this lie he had generated would be enough for the young Kyuubi container, though he doubted it.

'I can't believe it, even after all this he is still going to lie to me? I-I thought you cared about me Ji-chan, is it all an act, something you must do because you are the Hokage?' For years Naru had always had trouble trusting people but the Hokage always seemed to be exempt from that, but on a very deep level Naru still worried about his sincerity, and now that small worry had seemed to be validated. "Psychological problems?! Y-you really expect me to believe that!?" Naru yelled and the Hokage could barely suppress flinching, "Always, always everyone in this village has hated me, I can tell because of how they look at me! You always tell me they don't but they do and you KNOW it! Today an ANBU actually tried to kill me, AND YOU ARE STILL GOING TO LIE TO ME!!" Naru ended with a scream, tears leaking from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks as she stared directly at the Hokage.

The Hokage leaned forward on his desk with his hands clasped before him and his hat obscuring his face as he thought about how to reply. 'Naru, I would love nothing more than to tell you everything. I simply cannot let you know at this point, the secrets surrounding you could very well bring about another war for our nation.' the Hokage silently pondered, once again hating his successor/predecessor for the task that he had left to him. "Naru I will tell you everything you want to know one day, however that day cannot be today. I am sorry Naru, I really am.", the Hokage continued trying his best to express his true feelings.

"You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY? Sorry doesn't help me, sorry isn't going to stop some other ANBU from killing me in my sleep is it?" Naru began yelling, unable to comprehend how the Hokage could still keep things from her after what had happened.

"I-I thought you cared about me Ji-chan, I really did." Naru began again with her voice breaking somewhat.

"Naru..." the Hokage began, but before he could finish he was once again interrupted.

"I HATE YOU!" Naru screamed and then ran to the doors of his office, threw then open and ran out of the tower.

"NARU!" the Hokage called getting up from his desk to follow her knowing she most likely did not recognize the danger that she might still be in. Thinking better of going after her himself, the Hokage decided he needed to talk with Dog and see what more plans may be in place to harm Naru.

"Cat! Eagle!" the Hokage called into the empty room. Almost immediately two ANBU fell to their knees in front of the Hokage awaiting his orders. "I need the two of you to shadow Naru and make sure nothing happens to her.", the Hokage paused a moment before continuing, "You two have been in my service the longest and I trust the both of you....however, should either of you betray me as Falcon has today let me be clear about this," the Hokage spoke with a voice colder than any of the two ANBU had ever heard, "I will personally see to your torture is that understood? I will bring Tsunade back to this village by force if necessary just to keep you alive so I can inflict more pain upon you, is that UNDERSTOOD?!" he finished, almost completely losing his composure.

"H-Hai Hokage-sama!" they responded in unison before disappearing in twin swirls of leaves.

No sooner had the two ANBU left than another returned to his office, one that he really wanted to see. "Dog, I explicitly asked you to interview all of the ANBU that you were to bring along today and ensure that none of them had ill intent towards Naru. Given what happened today, I believe an explanation is in order and it better damn well be a good one!" the Hokage ordered as he moved back to his desk.

The dog masked ANBU commander did not waste any time in responding, "Hokage-sama, we are trained to be the best at deception and infiltration. For the past couple years Falcon has expressed favorable feelings towards Uzumaki-san so I had no reason to believe that he would have wished her any ill will. I have come to the conclusion that this was a planned out effort in order to allow him to be assigned to one of Uzumaki's guard duties giving him the chance to pursue an assassination. He may have thought that his best chance would be today as I only ever assign ANBU that I would personally trust with my life to guard Uzumaki-san, as you asked for my most trusted ANBU to guard her." the ANBU finished crisply.

"So you are saying that I can no longer trust all of my ANBU, is that it?" the Hokage asked gravely.

"It is my belief that with regards to the overall security of the village, the entirety of our ANBU forces can be trusted. However, specifically with regards to Uzumaki-san, I would say that there are most likely other members of the ANBU forces that would not be sad to see the girl die. As for whether they would go as far as to actually try and assassinate her as Falcon did today, I am unsure. I would recommend that any future ANBU sent to guard Uzumaki-san be sent before Yamanaka Inoichi." The dog masked ANBU commander replied.

"The Yamanaka clan head from T&I..." the Hokage mused out loud, "Yes, that is a good idea dog. From now on any ANBU that has a mission specific to Naru will have to be sent before Inoichi regardless of whether they have been before him already for a previous mission."

"Understood Hokage-sama. I will inform Yamanaka-san of your decision." The ANBU commander replied, readying himself to leave.

"Dog, what is the status of the interrogation of Falcon." the Hokage asked solemnly.

"Mitarashi-san is currently interrogating him with regards to any accomplices he may have with regards to assassination attempts on Uzumaki-san. He has already confessed to planning an assassination of the girl for the future and we are trying to ensure that no one else was involved in his plan. He has not been asked about his association with a chuunin named Mizuki yet, but we know that they often spend a lot of time together and feel that Mizuki may have been in on the assassination plan. We are waiting for Mitarashi-san to get him to confirm this hypothesis." the ANBU commander reported.

"Very well Dog." As the ANBU commander was once again about to leave the Hokage spoke one final time, "Dog, thank you for today. Naru is more important than you probably think and I am glad there is someone else around to look after her besides myself."

With a bow the ANBU commander replied, "I am simply doing my job Hokage-sama, protecting a citizen of Konoha." With that, the commander left in a swirl of leaves.

"Yes, but you are one of the few that would count Naru as a citizen of Konoha." the Hokage spoke wearily to an empty room.

'Minato, I am trying, but things just seem to get worse as time goes on. I want to tell her about you, but that would put not only her but this village in danger at this point in time. Should I tell her about the Kyuubi? I just don't know how she would respond to knowing that she has a demon sealed inside of her. Damn it Minato, I just don't know what to do anymore, I just don't know.' The Hokage pondered miserably.

--Scene Break--

Without ever quite realizing the danger that she could very well be in, Naru ran through the streets of the village to her apartment on the other side of town. Needless to say this day had been not only a physically trying one, but an emotionally and psychologically trying one as well. Simply too many things had happened in such a short span of time for Naru to properly process them all, so she needed some time alone to think things out.

Having finally reached her apartment, Naru collapsed on the couch in her living room, oblivious to the two ANBU keeping watch from just outside her apartment.

Speaking to the darkness, Naru tried to vent her anger and frustration at the situation, "Why me, I want to know why this has to happen to me. Why everyone in this village hates me, why they won't look at me, why they won't let their kids play with me, WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS VILLAGE WANT TO SEE ME DEAD!!?" The ANBU outside the small apartment could easily hear her exclamations through the walls, as if they were made of paper.

With Naru's peace spoken to the darkness of her apartment, she began to plan out an elaborate training schedule, more than exceeding what she already had been doing. While most her age trained with the idea of being genin in mind, Naru was going to train with her life and survival in mind which would give her an edge over the rest of her age group. Most did not understand the need to train with survival in mind until they have been genin for a while and done more than simple chores around the village.

The ANBU outside of the apartment took note of Naru's actions until she eventually fell asleep in her room.

--Scene Break--

"S-STOP!! Please, I have told you everything, please...just stop", a man sobbed out in a dark and cold room, barely lit by a single light in the center.

"Oh, I am not so sure that you have told us everything." Anko stated pulling the man's head back by the hair and staring him in the eyes as she continued, "Now, I am going to ask you one more time before you lose the rest of your fingernails, who else is working with you on the assassination plan you mentioned earlier? Try not to lie to me, I know when people are lying.", Anko finished slamming his head back into the chair.

"H-how can you know when someone is lying, you can't know that for sure by looking at me.", he asked through his ragged breathing.

A little snake slithered up the legs of the chair that the man was attached to, wrapping it's way up his arm. "My little friends here can taste the pheromones that people emit when they are lying, so please, lie to me and I'll be more than happy to give you a manicure you'll never forget" Anko finished, smiling at the man.

Panicking, the man finally decided to spill his guts, "M-Mizuki. I only know his first name. He is working his way through the Academy to become the assistant teacher for when Uzumaki's Kunoichi class is recombined with the male Shinboi class. W-we were going to make sure that she failed and then talk her into stealing the forbidden scroll from the Hokage as an impromptu test and then kill her and take off with the scroll. T-there, I told you everything, now p-please just stop." the man finished with a choked off sob.

"That's a good boy. Now see, this all could have been so much easier if you had just told me that from the start. " Anko said while walking over to a table in the middle of the room and picking up a single kunai, as Anko started walking back towards him holding the kunai in her hand she continued, "You know, I absolutely hate people that blame others for something they had no control over. I had nothing to do with Orochimaru betraying the village, yet they all feel the need to take it out on me, despite the fact that I was not even a Chuunin yet. That girl had nothing to do with the decision of the Yondaime to put the demon inside of her, yet you all feel the need to punish her for it, from the time she was born no less." Anko had stopped in front of the man and was examining the kunai by this point.

"W-wait, you said you would stop." the man cried looking at the kunai in her hands.

"Oh, the torture is over, no need to worry about that." She replied smiling at him, "However, the punishment for what you did is death, and I have the distinct pleasure of being your executioner. Since you cooperated in the end however, it will be quick, not that you deserve it though."

"N-N" the man's response was cut off as Anko drove the kunai into the back of his skull straight into the Medulla Oblongata, causing his body to instantly fall limp, the life leaving his eyes.

"Good riddance you piece of shit, you're a disgrace to the ANBU." She spoke wiping the blood off her kunia on the man's body.

The door to the room opened and light spilled into the dark room. The ANBU commander walked in, still with his dog mask in place and asked, "What is the status of Falcon?"

"He told me what we need to know and I carried out the execution. We need to bring a man named Mizuki in, he was involved with Falcon in a plot to force Naru to fail as a genin and then enable them to steal the Forbidden Scroll. I'll detail exactly what he told me in my report, but that is the gist of it." Anko replied easily.

"I see. I want Yamanaka-san to handle the interrogation of this Mizuki individual, tell him to find out what he needs by any means necessary. If the man is indeed guilty, then he is free to break the man's mind. If Yamanaka-san isn't feeling up to it, then you are free to carry out the man's execution Anko.", the ANBU commander ordered.

Anko smiled at the dog masked commander and replied, "With pleasure."

--Scene Break--

"I see, so they have even infiltrated the Academy in order to assassinate Naru." The Hokage sighed once again feeling his age.

"That is correct Hokage-sama. However, we have captured Mizuki and although he did not confess Yamanaka-san was able to extract the required information from his mind, after which Mizuki was executed." the commander replied.

"Dog, there is something I want to ask you, and not as a superior. I want to make it clear that this is in no way an order, is that understood?" The Hokage asked seriously.

"I understand Hokage-sama, I have the ability to refuse that which you are about to ask me." the commander replied, somewhat anxious as to what his leader was going to request.

"When the time comes, I would be able to sleep better at night if you were to be the Jounin sensei of Naru's genin team. I understand that this would be major step down for you, as you are currently the commander of the ANBU forces in Konoha, and that is why this is not an order. Should you accept, I would like you to groom a successor so that when the time comes, you are ready to step down. You need not answer me now Dog, but I would like an answer in the near future so I can make other plans should you refuse." the Hokage asked somberly.

The ANBU commanders eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the request of the Hokage, 'Is this girl really that important to him? I know she is the container of the Kyuubi, but there has to be more to it than that.' "Hokage-sama, I would like some time to think about my decision before I respond, however I would like to ask you about Uzumaki-san."

"If I can answer your questions, I will." the Hokage replied, lighting his pipe and calmly sucking in the relaxing vapors.

"I mean no disrespect sir, but to warrant this kind of protection on your part I assume there is something important about Uzumaki-san besides the fact that she contains the Kyuubi. Would you be able to relate to me what this is?" The ANBU commander respectfully asked.

"You are as astute as ever Dog, however the secrets concerning Naru that you seek knowledge of are beyond S-class. Only two individuals know about it, and you are looking at one of them. If it were not so crucial I would be more than willing to tell you, however should this information ever slip it could very well ignite the next war among the shinobi nations." the Hokage replied gravely.

"With all due respect sir, that is exactly why I should know. Should a situation ever head south I need to know exactly how and why to prioritize Uzumaki-san and her safety. Such as is short term enemy capture an acceptable risk in her case, or is that simply not acceptable, etc." The commander spoke.

"Very well Dog, should you accept the responsibility of being Naru's Jounin sensei, the day that you take command of your team, I will relay the secret to you. The only reason why I am even considering this is because I know that once you are enlightened to the situation, your very perception of her may change due to your past." the Hokage responded looking the commander through the eye slots in the mask.

"My past sir?" 'What the heck could Uzumaki have to do with my past?'

"Yes, but that is all for now. Think on my request, and let me know what you decide to do. All I can say now is that should you accept, once you learn of her secrets, you may very well be glad that you did. Dismissed." The Hokage replied in a final tone.

The dog masked ANBU commander bowed and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"I am sure you would love to look after your sensei's daughter. I only hope that you are willing to accept that responsibility. She could definitely use someone else that has her safety as their first priority." the Hokage spoke to the silence of his office.

A/N: Ok, so I know this chapter is really short, and I am very sorry for that. I was late messing with RL stuff and I really wanted to get something out to everyone that has been reading my story. This also seemed like an ok place to stop. I will try and prioritize writing new chapters higher up so a delay like this does not happen again. Reviews always help with motivation though =)


	5. Chapter 5

General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the associated characters. With that said, on with the story.

A/N: Oh man, busy busy this last week. On the off chance that anyone knows what it is, I spent all last week at the I/ITSEC conference in Orlando FL, there was some really cool stuff there. Soldiers going around with VR goggles to do simulations, pilot training systems, and much more. I so wish I took a camera. Anyways, it seems I picked a bad time of the year to start writing lol, with all the holidays and having to travel home to meet with the family takes up a lot of time. Hope you enjoy this delayed chapter!

With a swirl of leaves, a dog masked ANBU appeared inside of a small apartment on the far side of town. Worn out from an extremely tiring day the young commander of the ANBU forces in Konoha was glad to finally be home. Slowly shedding his armor and placing it meticulously on the rack located in the far side of his room he couldn't help but sigh as the weight was removed, "What a fucking day." Once the armor was removed he was no longer the merciless ANBU commander of Konoha but Hatake Kakashi Jounin of Konoha.

Laying down on his bed he couldn't help but think back to what had happened earlier.

Flashback

"When the time comes, I would be able to sleep better at night if you were to be the Jounin sensei of Naru's genin team."

End Flashback

Folding his hands behind his head as he lay down Kakashi couldn't help but think aloud, "Give up my position as ANBU commander? Most ninja strive their entire lives to reach a position such as the one I have, I would pretty much be going from the top of the totem pole all the way to the bottom."

Flashback

Girls from the side of the room screamed as the ANBU pulled out a kunai and threw it, then charged after it towards Naru. She opened her eyes in the direction of the screams and saw a kunai flying towards her. The girls sky blue eyes went from confusion to acceptance, death was finally here for her.

End Flashback

Closing his eyes Kakashi tried to rid himself of that image, "Someone so young shouldn't have those eyes, eyes that simply accept death as if it was inevitable."

Flashback

The worst kind of screams imaginable echoed throughout the forest, screams of primal terror. Although man would like to think that he is vastly removed from beast, when it comes down to it we have the same base instincts, fight or flight. However, when neither fighting or running away is possible a terror takes hold of man and animal alike, the terror of being helpless as death approaches. These were the screams that resounded in a chuunin's ears by the name of Hatake Kakashi as he ran through the forest towards where the Kyuubi had just disappeared from, towards where the Yondaime Hokage had but moments before headed to.

Kakashi stumbled upon a scene that he wasn't sure he would ever see, the Yondaime Hokage lying on the ground breathing laboriously, death seeming imminent. Both Jiraiya and the Sandaime Hokage were kneeling near him as Kakashi approached them. Kakashi could just barely make out a bundle cradled in Jiraiya's arms, but thought nothing of it as he sped towards his sensei.

"Sensei!" Kakashi called as he skidded to a halt near the man's body.

"Kakashi....I am glad you survived." the Yondaime Hokage replied weakly.

"Sensei, are you..." Kakashi began but was interrupted by the Yondaime.

Speaking to everyone at once knowing that his time was too short to mess with formalities, "See to it...that she is treated as the h...hero that she is." As he spoke the Yondaime made one last effort to reach towards the bundle in Jiraiya's arms, but as his hand was nearing the bundle the light left his blue eyes and his arms fell limp to the ground dust swirling into the air and then settling around it.

"S-Sensei!" Kakashi leaned over the man pressing his fingers into the neck of the Hokage and began to panic as he failed to find a pulse. Before long though the Sandaime spoke.

"Kakashi-kun, there is nothing that can be done. The shinigami collects on all debts without fail."

"What do you mean the Shinigami?" Kakashi demanded, forgetting in the heat of the moment who he was talking to. However, it was Jiraiya who answered.

"The only way to stop the Kyuubi was to seal it into the body of a newborn child, the price for such is the sealers life. The shinigami is the one that the Yondaime made a deal with in order to seal the Kyuubi and after the Kyuubi was sealed the shinigami collected on his debt." Jiraiya answered solemnly.

As if sensing that it had become part of the conversation the newborn child in Jiraiya's arms began to wail, it's cries breaking the silence that had just come over the forest. Kakashi rose from his position and approached the child held in Jiraiya's arms. Jiraiya did not move however prepared himself to take action should Kakashi do anything foolish. Kakashi stopped just short of Jiraiya and looked within the covers to see a baby girl with an angry red spiral seal on it's stomach as well as three lines gracing either pudgy cheek.

"I-Is this who Sensei was talking about?" Kakashi asked as calmly as he could manage in the situation.

This time the Sandaime replied, "Yes, this girl is to be the living prison of the Kyuubi. We have in a sense sacrificed her life, before she ever even had the chance to consent. However, there was little choice in the matter."

End Flashback

"Sensei's dying wish...we have failed, no, failed is too light a term for the current situation." Kakashi spoke to himself grimly. Finally coming to a decision, Kakashi managed to fall into a light slumber for the night.

-- Scene Break

"Come in." the Hokage spoke in a calm voice.

The doors to his office revealed the dog masked ANBU commander, once again covered in his midnight armor.

"Ahh, welcome back Dog. Have you reached a decision already, I did not expect you to for some time?" the Hokage continued as the doors to his office were closed.

Stopping in front of the Hokage's oak desk Kakashi replied, "I have come to a decision Hokage-sama. I would like to accept the position of Uzumaki's Jounin Sensei and will begin grooming a replacement immediately."

"I am immensely relieved Dog, this means a lot not only to me but the entire village, whether or not they know it." The Hokage explained with a smile on his face. "If it is not too personal, what may I ask allowed you to come to a decision so quickly?"

"I would like to uphold a dying man's final request Hokage-sama. It is time that I face my catastrophic failure with regards to my Sen...my leaders dying wish." Kakashi replied solemnly.

"Do not be too hard on yourself Dog, we have all failed in that respect, even I have failed. It is not something I am proud of but it is the truth none the less." The Hokage responded sadly.

"Hokage-sama, with your permission I would like to increase the watch on Uzumaki-san. It will take a bit of time to gather an absolutely trusted group of ANBU but I would like to do so, and then rotate them on watch for Uzumaki-san." Kakashi replied with a hint of determination showing through the monotone voice of the ANBU commander.

"Permission granted Dog, given what recently happened I think it's for the best. How long do you think it will take to assemble this group of ANBU?" The Hokage asked now falling back into his role as the impersonal commander.

"Given the current work load that Yamanaka-san currently has, I would think this could be accomplished in a little over 3 weeks. I know this is a long period of time given the current situation but I believe that if I let it slip I am personally watching over her then we need not worry for at least some time." the ANBU responded crisply.

"And will you be watching over her?" the Hokage asked curiously.

"I will be extremely busy training my replacement so that he or she is ready by the time I step down, however I will be taking time to randomly find her and watch over her. This should give the illusion that I am personally guarding her as most people will assume that when they do not see me around her it is simply because I do not wish to be seen." Kakashi responded.

"Very well." the Hokage responded with a tone of finality letting Kakashi know the meeting was over. Before he could leave the Hokage stood from his desk and turned to look over the city below the tower and continued, "Dog...not as the Sandaime, but as Sarutobi Hiruzen, I would like to say thank you. You are dismissed."

--Scene Break--

Naru awoke on the couch in her tiny apartment, having practically passed out after venting all of her rage the previous night. Having woken fairly early she decided to go back to her own training area. 'Hopefully I'll get to see Kenji-san too.' Naru thought joyously to herself.

Eventually arriving at the training grounds that she frequents Naru noted sadly to herself that she did not see Kenji-san anywhere, though she rarely did, he mostly pops out of nowhere. Naru decided to start training with her new regimen in mind, beginning with stretching, jogging, kunai practice and ending with chakra manipulation.

Time passed as it normally does, and eventually Naru arrived at what she was most excited to practice. 'Finally, time to practice with my chakra!'

However, just as she was about to begin locating her chakra once again, as she hasn't used it long enough to readily use it without meditation, a pleasant surprise appeared.

"Kenji-san!" Naru exclaimed seeing him appear at the edge of the clearing. Chakra manipulation momentarily forgotten, Naru charged across the field towards the one person that she could truly trust.

"Naru-chan, how have you been?" Kenji asked in his ever polite tone. Naru immediately sported a crestfallen look her mind going back to the time at which she was almost murdered in broad daylight, in front of her classmates, a swarm of ANBU and the Hokage.

"I-" Naru began, "I haven't been doing really well Kenji-san. A-an ANBU...h-he tried to kill me yesterday when I accessed my chakra for the first time." she continued her throat catching a bit at points, "And Ji-chan, h-he doesn't even c-care...even after that h-he is still l-lying to me." she finished with tears threatening to leak from her eyes.

Before Kenji could respond Naru began again, "Kenji-san, thank you."

"Thank you for what Naru-chan? I haven't done much." Kenji replied in a sad tone.

"You have done more than anyone in this village. W-when I thought I was going to die, my last thought...it was about you, how you've helped me, and how I never said thank you for that help. I don't want to have that regret next time." Naru smiled at him sadly.

"Naru-chan, there won't be a next time. I will make you powerful, powerful enough to protect yourself. That way, you need not worry about regrets." Kenji replied as he kneeled down, his right hand reaching out to her cheek and brushing away a tear with his thumb. "I want you to mold chakra for me Naru-chan, let me see what is going on."

"See? How can you see what is going on?" She asked curiously, feeling slightly embarrassed due to the lingering hand on her cheek, however it wasn't a bad kind of embarrassed.

"Well, I can't see per se. I want you to describe what you feel as you are molding chakra, and I will use my chakra sensory ability to examine your chakra at a very high level. Most Jounin level ninja can sense ambient chakra." he replied easily.

Satisfied with his answer Naru moved away a bit and placed her hands in the ram seal. Reaching into herself as before, touching the chaotic ocean of chakra within and doing her best to command it Naru began to channel her chakra.

"Remember, tell me what you feel Naru-chan." Kenji reminded her.

"My chakra, it...it feels like a storm, or a chaotic ocean. It's really hard to guide it through my body, and it keeps surging and ebbing." Naru answered in an unsure voice.

After a moment of silence Kenji made a request that caused Naru's heart to stop for a moment. "Naru-chan, lift up your shirt."

"W-What?!" Naru asked almost in a panic.

"Not like that Naru-chan." Kenji responded chuckling a little, "I need you to lift it up just enough to show your stomach, and then I want you to channel chakra again."

"Why do I need to do that?" Naru asked still unsure.

"You will see Naru-chan. Please, if you trust me." Kenji replied staring her in the eyes.

Hesitantly at first, Naru grabbed the hem of her shirt and began to lift it. Once the greater part of her stomach was showing Naru clasped the shirt in her hands, formed the ram seal and began to channel chakra once more. Almost immediately a dark and intricate seal came to life on her stomach.

"Naru-chan, if you can, I want you to look down at your stomach." Kenji requested.

Opening her eyes Naru looked down and saw something that made absolutely no sense. The shock in her eyes was more than enough to let Kenji know that she had absolutely no idea what the seal meant.

"W-what is that?! I never got a tattoo and it wasn't there a minute ago." Naru asked, panic beginning to seep into her voice.

"Naru-chan...do you trust me." Kenji asked her looking straight into her eyes with his own.

"O-of course Kenji-san." Naru replied focusing on Kenji's eyes to bring calm back to herself.

"I need you to keep channeling chakra while I look at this seal on your stomach. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes." Naru replied still looking into his eyes.

"I knew you could." Kenji smiled at her.

Kneeling onto the ground in front of Naru Kenji began looking closely at different parts of the seal, tracing some of them with his index finger causing Naru to blush for a reason she did not completely understand. After some time Kenji finally rose from his position in front of her and informed her that she could stop channeling chakra.

"Kenji-san, w-what's going on?" Naru asked still somewhat frightened.

"Naru-chan, I am trusting you with my very life if I explain this to you. Can I trust you to protect me?" Kenji asked her.

"Of course Kenji-san, I would never betray you. You are the only person...the only person I can trust." Naru replied solemnly.

"I don't know all of the details myself, but that is a seal on your stomach. It is the cause of a lot of your chakra manipulation problems, it's the reason your chakra feels like a chaotic ocean instead of a calm pool. I am going to look into a way to help you Naru-chan, but until then I need you to keep the fact that you know about the seal a secret. Otherwise, the Sandaime will most likely send ANBU after me. Can I trust you to do that Naru?"

"Yes Kenji-san, you can trust me. I'll keep it a secret from everyone, especially Ji-chan." she responded with determination.

"Well, I feel assured Naru-chan." Kenji began, smiling at her once again. "I think it's time you head home now though, you have been training and molding chakra for quite some time now. I will come see you again when I have found a way to help you with the seal."

"Ok Kenji-san. I can't wait to meet you again. W-would it be possible to see you sooner, even if you haven't found a way to help me yet?" Naru asked while staring at the ground, a blush on her face.

Reaching down and caressing the hair on Naru's head Kenji responded, "I would love nothing more than to come see you again soon Naru-chan, however I have some very urgent matters that need to be taken care of outside of Fire country and I also want to spend as much time as I can looking for a way to help you. I am sorry, but I most likely won't be able to return until I have found a way to help you. I hope you can understand Naru-chan."

"I-I do Kenji-san." Naru replied in understanding, "I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you to come back no matter what though." With those words Naru ran back to her apartment.

Just as Naru was leaving the clearing, a figure with silver hair jumped from the forest and landed on his knees near Kenji. As the figure rose, he used his right hand to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before turning to his companion, "You never cease to amaze me."

"We have preparations to make in Wind country, it's best that these types of things are done well in advance so all evidence can be obscured with time." Kenji responded to the newcomer while staring at the point in the trees where Naru had disappeared.

"True, too true. Beginning things this far in advance will ensure that your plan can be executed without fail." the silver haired stranger replied.

"Come, it's time to leave this village. Even my skills at manipulation can be tried when I have to pretend to be the benevolent stranger for such lengthy periods of time Kabuto." With that said, both figures sank into the ground and disappeared.

(A/N: OH SNAP!)

-- Scene Break--

"I have gathered all of you here today to discuss some matters of great importance. I will be assembling a team of ANBU that will have to submit to a mind reading by Yamanaka Inoichi from T&I. The team will be assembled in order to rotate watch for Uzumaki-san. Considering the events that have recently taken place this new measure is in place. Until such time as this team can be assembled I will be personally watching over Uzumaki-san. Let it be known that should anyone attempt to harm Uzumaki-san I will gladly hand them over to Mitarashi-san, only after I have severely beaten them myself of course." Kakashi finished, and stopped his pacing in order to stare at the assembled ANBU. "Are there any questions?"

After a moment of silence Kakashi spoke again, "I will first be asking for volunteers. In the event that I do not have enough volunteers I will recruit people that I feel are up to the task. However, volunteers and people I recruit all must face a mind screening by Yamanaka-san. This is not negotiable. I need 4 volunteers, each to take a six hour shift. Those who are interested please remain here, the rest of you are dismissed."

After all the ANBU who were going to leave had done so, Kakashi looked around to see eight ANBU remaining in the room.

"Well, at least it's more than I expected. I will discuss with Yamanaka-san when he is available to screen each of you and then I will inform you of your appointment time with him over in the T&I complex. I can only hope that at least four of you pass, I would rather not force people into this role." Kakashi informed the remaining ANBU as he marked their call signs down on a sheet of paper.

"You are all dismissed, I have your information and will contact you at a later time." With that the remaining ANBU exited the room leaving Kakashi alone inside it.

'I guess I had better go talk to Yamanaka-san.'

-- Scene Break--

Walking around the Torture and Interrogation complex was always a bit uncomfortable, and it should be as the architecture was designed specifically to make it so. Not to mention the random scream that could be heard echoing down the hallways of the dark complex. This did not detour Kakashi though as he made his way towards the interrogation section of the compound, the section that Yamanaka-san was head of.

Walking towards a section of the complex that he only had access to because he was ANBU commander, Kakashi came upon the office of Yamanaka Inoichi. Kakashi knocked upon the door and upon hearing a non-descript response entered the office.

Sitting behind a massive desk opposite the door was a middle aged man with a long blond ponytail. Anyone that knew the man for who he was, and few did, knew that this was definitely a man that commanded respect and in most cased fear from his enemies due to his power over the mind.

"Dog, what is it that I can do for the ANBU commander?" Inoichi asked looking up from his paperwork.

"I am here to request that you scan the minds of eight ANBU that I am currently evaluating. After the incident concerning Uzumaki-san the Hokage and myself have deemed that anyone going on duty to protect her should be subject to a memory reading done by you specifically."

"I see." the blonde man replied, folding his hands on the desk before him, "As you most likely I am always busy, however I will work them in. It will take some time to examine all eight however."

"Can you give me an estimate on how long it will take?" Kakashi asked.

Grabbing a book on the side of his desk Inoichi flipped through it until he reached a page near the middle and began reading down the page rubbing his chin with his hand as he did so. "To scan all eight it will take a little over 2 and a half weeks. Most likely 3 total. I can only fit in about 3 a week at this point, I have a lot of high status people to interrogate that were brought in from the field recently. I am sorry I can't get them through faster Dog."

"I understand Yamanaka-san, it is very short notice. Could you give me the times at which you can take each man for interrogation and I will inform them individually when their time comes?"

"Of course Dog." Inoichi marked some times and dates down from his book on a piece of paper and then made marks in the book as he went along. After he was finished he handed the paper to Kakashi. "With this, hopefully we can ensure that Uzumaki-san has adequate protection, she deserves a better life." Inoichi spoke sadly while thinking of his own daughter and how sad he would be should she have been in Naru's position.

"Yes she does." With that Kakashi left the office and headed to inform the first ANBU that his appointment would be the next day at 1530.

A/N: Well, I think that's going to be it for this chapter. I have been dying to make the revelation about Kenji since I started this story, and I feel that now was the time to finally reveal who he actually is. Told you he wasn't an OC =P


	6. Chapter 6

General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the associated characters. With that said, on with the story.

A/N: Ok, EPIC Fail on my part, and for that I am very sorry. Also, props to everyone that has been taking the time to review. I hope this isn't going too slow for people (story wise, not the updates lol), I am trying to really develop the foundations of the characters, their motives, before I go into the cool fight stuff. With that out of the way I'll shut up and give you what you have been waiting for, I hope you all enjoy.

Deep in the mountains of an unknown country a beautiful and unscathed landscape stretched out almost as far as one could see. Nature untouched by the molding hands of man, however upon closer inspection one could just barely make out a cave entrance which in and of itself is not necessarily worthy of notice, yet the fact that the entrance was a perfect square was. This was no construction of nature, in fact it was one of the many underground research labs that Orochimaru had placed throughout the shinobi world.

Entering the subterranean complex was easy, finding your way around in the dim light provided by scarce torches along the walls however was an extremely daunting task. Yet, unlike so many other of Orochimaru's labs this one did not echo with the screams of tormented souls endlessly being experimented on. In fact, this base could easily be mistaken for a print shop. Vials upon vials of ink lined the walls, stacks of paper piled throughout the main room in the complex, as well as tables with a wide array of different brushes. This was nothing so simple or benign as a print shop, although the art of seal making was not directly a deadly art, like so many other things it could be distorted and used as such.

"What do you mean it will take time to unlock the seal?! How long are we talking you fools?!" An angry voice shouted, echoing throughout the hollow complex. The voice belonged to the nuke-nin that Orochimaru had placed in charge of the complex. His slightly larger than normal frame placed him at 6'2" which allowed him to tower of the group of scholars he oversaw working on seals for Orochimaru. His frame not only gave him an edge psychologically but the black hair hanging in a halo around his head, his cold blue eyes and the numerous scars marring his face all served to intimidate those around him into following orders.

What seemed to either be the bravest or the stupidest of the lab scholars stood from the rest and explained, "What we mean is that this seal is unlike almost any we have ever seen before. Fools love to think in 2 dimensions, however once you take a closer look at this seal and the chakra patterns it would create, one could easily see that it is actually a 3 dimensional seal that has been flattened."

"3 Dimensional seal flattened into a 2 dimensional seal? If you don't start making some damn sense I am going to gut you right here in front of all your buddies!" the commander of the complex threatened as he pulled out a kunai and brought it to the scholars neck.

Barely managing to suppress her nervousness the scholar continued in what she hoped was a normal tone, "The best way I can explain it is through pictures. When you take a picture of someone, they are in a 3 dimensional world with the environment around them. However, when you get the picture back it is a 2 dimensional world. That is what we see when looking at the seal. This is a 2 dimensional representation of the actual seal. The 8 spokes along the rim of the seal are actually like dials in a combination lock. To unlock the seal and allow someone to modify it you must find the proper combination of the spokes. Since there are 8 spokes, there are 40,320 different ways in which you can arrange them. Needless to say it will take SOME time to figure out which one will allow us to unlock the seal!" she finished in an exasperated tone.

Lowering the kunai from the scholars neck the commander seemed to fall into deep though processing what he had been told. Looking back to the woman after a moment he continued, "You are not going to try all 40,320 combinations are you? We do not have that kind of time, I assume you have some sort of plan?"

"We do indeed have a plan. As with cracking combination locks where a very skilled person can detect when a tumbler falls into place, we will be able to detect when a chakra tumbler falls into place. It will take someone of extraordinary chakra detection skill, but it is possible. As you well know, Orochimaru-sama is a person more than capable at detecting chakra. With some practice he should be able to unlock the seal himself." The woman finished.

"What will happen when the seal is unlocked?" the commander enquired.

"The seals main purpose besides holding the Kyuubi at bay is to regulation the flow of the Kyuubi's chakra into the girls system. From what we can see it stems the flow of chakra from the Kyuubi into the girls chakra system enabling her body to convert the chakra of the Kyuubi into her own and then use it after the conversion just as she does her own. Once the seal is unlocked, Orochimaru-sama will be able to change the amount of flow from the Kyuubi to the girl. Increasing the flow of chakra will most likely force her body to abandon converting the Kyuubi's chakra and simply use it as is." The woman lectured, once again feeling in her element.

"Unlocking the seal won't release the Kyuubi will it?! Orochimaru-sama would kill all of us if he had to run from an unleashed Kyuubi!" The commander asked slightly worried.

"Of course not, the part of the seal that holds the Kyuubi at bay is unalterable, we cannot simply open the prison to the Kyuubi. However, the more chakra of the Kyuubi's that flows through the girl the more influence it may have upon her. I have no knowledge of Jinchuuriki specifically so I cannot tell you how it will affect her." came the swift response.

"You mentioned that Orochimaru-sama will be able to practice, how exactly are we going to accomplish that?" the raven haired commander enquired once again.

"After a close examination of the seal, we have been able to reverse engineer the sealing process used on the Kyuubi. We have more than enough prisoners at some of the other compounds, we will simply have unsuspecting nuke-nin cast the sealing technique in order to seal prisoners into vessels and then have Orochimaru-sama practice on unlocking those seals. Once he feels confident he can then unlock the seal on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." the female scholar replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Very well. We will be moving to the complex in Kusa, they have an excess of prisoners there for experimentation. I will inform Kabuto-dono about the discoveries made and then we will prepare for Orochimaru-sama's arrival." With that, the man left the complex to get his message under way.

--Scene Break--

Classes at the resident ninja academy had been cancelled for the rest of the week after the "ANBU incident", however as it was the beginning of a new week the instructors felt that it was time to bring the students back and continue with their everyday classes once again.

As other students were rising from their warm beds, being greeted by their parents on the new day and fed a sufficient breakfast one lone Kunoichi was already awake and training for the new day. In one of the training grounds not too far from the academy, Naru was once again practicing her kunai throwing ability making sure that she was able to accurately hit the target even as she ran around the grounds. Satisfied that her kunai abilities were improving Naru moved on to what she really wanted to focus on in the little time left before class, chakra manipulation.

Placing her hands in the ram seal, Naru began to concentrate and tried to find her center. It was becoming easier and easier to find that storm of chakra within her, however it wasn't becoming any easier to control it. Once again, Naru was able to channel the flow of chakra though her hands however the flow was unstable and she could feel it, almost like a sputtering hose. Although Naru did not understand it, this was because her body was using its own chakra to convert that of the Kyuubi, creating pockets in the stream of chakra flowing in her body. Simply dumping massive amounts of extra chakra into the channeling process would have solved the problem on a superficial level however that would introduce the new problem of wasting chakra and would do nothing to improve her control, in fact it may well worsen it.

Sighing, Naru allowed the flow of chakra to subside and took a look at the rising sun to estimate how much longer she had until class. This skill of estimating the time based on the position of the sun or moon was something they were all taught how to do fairly early on, it wasn't as good as a watch but it would have to do. Realizing that she didn't have much time Naru took off towards the academy.

--Scene Break--

The students at the academy were all very nervous. The last time they were in this classroom an ANBU had tried to kill one of them, Uzumaki Naru in particular. Although none of the girls really liked Naru, none of them wanted her to die. All chatter in the class died almost immediately as someone entered the room.

'Yeah, go ahead and stare. I bet you all were wishing that the ANBU would succeed, well guess what? I'm still here!' Naru though vehemently as she looked around the classroom while heading towards the back.

Some of the more skittish students realizing that their normal seats were far too close to Naru for comfort, especially after what happened last class, decided to move a bit further away. Nishimura-sensei was not happy, especially since she was going to have to help cover up what had happened during the last class period. Sighing about the task ahead of her she began, "Welcome back. Before we begin any kind of training it is my responsibility to inform all of you about the truth regarding the situation last class." Noticing that she had all of the students eyes riveted on her, save those of Naru the instructor continued, "The ANBU from the chakra exam last class was under severe mental distress, and sadly this fact was missed by his medical supervisor. He was mentally unstable and as a result entered a fabricated world in which he recognized Uzumaki Naru as an enemy kunoichi. Fearing for the life of the Hokage he acted to eliminate the foreign kunoichi. Said ANBU has been removed from duty and is currently under psychological evaluation. Any questions?"

'Yeah, do you really expect them to believe that load of crap?' Naru questioned mentally with a scowl gracing her face.

One of the girls in the front, Ino, raised her hand tentatively.

"Yes, Yamanaka-san?"

"I-I was wondering what happened when Whi-...Naru used her chakra. I haven't felt anything like that before?" Ino asked the instructor in a cautious voice.

"Very good question Yamanaka-san. The feeling of dread that you no doubt felt grip you was the killing intent leaked from the ANBU which due to the speed of his reaction may have seemed as if the chakra itself was causing this dread. The power of the reaction is simply due to Uzumaki-san's incompetence. Any more questions?" 'It's a good thing I went over what to say before I came to class, making shit like that up on the fly might have been a bit difficult.'

Looking around the classroom the instructor did not notice any other hands going into the air. 'It seems they are accepting the story I was instructed to tell them. Well, at least that means no problems for me.' Nishimura-sensei thought to herself.

"Alright then. The past is the past, and we will be moving on without delay. If want to have any chance of becoming kunoichi I sincerely hope that you used these past days off in order to train your chakra manipulation skills, you are going to need them. The time that all of you have been waiting for has arrived, we will be learning our first jutsu, Kawarimi."

"YES!!" "My god finally, I thought this day would never come *sob*" "Time to kick ass!"

"Damn it! Do none of you ever learn, shut the hell up!" The instructor yelled over the commotion that erupted in the room at the mention of learning their first jutsu. 'Little brats always going crazy on me.' It took some time, but the class quieted relatively quickly, whether they had learned to fear the wrath of their instructor or simply wanted to learn the jutsu was questionable.

"Now that I have your undivided attention once again, I will explain exactly what the Kawarimi jutsu does. There are many times in your kunoichi careers in which you will find yourselves in situations where it would be advantageous to be somewhere else. When a kunai is speeding at your head for instance." the instructor spoke, staring directly at Naru. The rest of the class became deathly silent as they realized the implication. "In situations such as that, if you were able to switch places with say that log sitting over there in the corner of the classroom..." the instructor spoke while pointing at the log, "your life may very well be saved."

The instructor continued as the class sat in silence digesting what they had just been told, "That is the purpose of this jutsu, to switch places with another object. Now watch closely as I show you the hand seal for Kawarimi, it is one seal just like when you are channeling chakra, so this is the easiest to learn. You need to simply channel chakra through the seal as with the ram seal and concentrate completely on the object you want to switch places with. Visualize yourself and it interchanging positions, it in your place and you in its." Within a split second after the instructor finished speaking, her body disappeared and a log fell out of the air in her place, whipping their heads around the class saw their instructor standing in the corner of the class where the log had previously been.

"Put all of the effort that you can into learning this technique. There are not tips that I can give you, this technique relies solely on your ability to visualize yourself switching places with the log and your ability to channel a precise flow of chakra through the hand seal. Since you all were so upset about my impromptu declaration last time, if you cannot perform this jutsu in 2 weeks time you will be dropped from the Kunoichi program. This is the most simple of jutsu, if you cannot perform it then you are not worth Konoha's time to train. You are allowed to spend the rest of the day in the training grounds behind the academy practicing the jutsu." With that the instructor left the classroom, it was some time before any of the students even moved.

--Scene Break-- 1530 Interrogation Complex

"It's nice to see that you weren't late Dog." Inoichi chuckled as Kakashi arrived with a cat masked ANBU call sign 'Neko' at exactly 1530.

"This is far too important for me to play those normal games, I have brought Neko for today's examination, I look forward to reading your report." After a brief pause, Kakashi turned to Neko, "No matter the results of the report, it will not affect your overall career in ANBU, simply your assignment on this mission. I thought you should know that before the session."

"Thank you very much commander, I look forward to protecting the Uzumaki girl with you." Neko replied calmly.

Neko walked through a heavy set of double doors into a massive room with seals lining all of the walls. Looking around, she began to feel just a bit of trepidation about what was to come.

Being a master of interrogation and psychology Inoichi was able to notice, whereas other's would have never even guessed, that Neko was feeling slightly uncomfortable about what was to transpire. Seeking to assuage some common fears she may be having he spoke up, "I will not be looking at any personal memories or thoughts that you may have Neko. I am skilled enough to ensure that your privacy is kept whilst still finding out what I need to know with respect to you ability to protect Uzumaki Naru."

Hearing Inoichi address some of the fears that she was having indeed calmed Neko down. 'That's a great relief. There are some things I just don't want random strangers to know...' Neko blushed under her mask, '...some very personal things.'

"If you could please lie down in the center of the room, I will begin your examination. Do not worry, this will be over relatively quickly."

Neko began to feel a fraction of the apprehension return as she was lying down in the middle of the room, however as soon as her head touched the floor, the world went white.

........

"ko....ko...eko......NEKO!"

'Oh my god, what the hell! My head feels like it was just introduced to Gai's fist!' Neko screamed inside of her head.

Inoichi was hovering over her, shaking her shoulder in order to wake her up.

'At least he doesn't look panicked, so this must be somewhat normal.' Neko thought to herselt. "What the hell happened?"

Shrugging nonchalantly Inoichi replied, "That's why I asked you to lay down. Although there are no detrimental effects it hurts like a bitch and most people pass out during the process."

"You could have at least told me that!" She snapped without meaning to.

"We find that people are more susceptible to the jutsu when they aren't anticipating the side effects." he replied calmly. "Your evaluation has been completed, I recommend that you get at least a couple hours rest and I will hand the results to your commander."

Grumbling, Neko got up and left the room hoping to never return.

--Scene Break--

"How in the hell are we supposed to do this? It's like impossible!" one of the many young kunoichi in the training grounds behind the academy screamed out in frustration after hours of attempting the jutsu without any results.

"I know, Sensei hasn't given us any information on how to do this jutsu besides visualize the results, it in your place and you in its. What kind of help is that!?" Another replied.

Although Naru would never say it out loud, her sentiments were much the same. After hours of trying to perform the jutsu she met with very little success.

'It's hard enough just to try and get what resembles a steady flow of chakra, badly resembles at that, let alone perform the jutsu itself. How am I ever going to pull this off?' Naru spoke to herself, however that new part of her mind chimed in, 'I cannot and will not fail Kenji-san. I WILL find a way!'

Looking around at the other kunoichi in her group, Naru couldn't find anyone she could observe to glean an advantage from. As her vision swept to the far end of the field she spotted a girl with black hair falling around her head and pale pupil-less eyes not even trying to perform the jutsu.

'Wow, she isn't even going to try? She shouldn't even be here if that's the case.' Naru grumbled internally.

As if sensing Naru's thoughts, another group of kunoichi in training seemed to notice that the girl wasn't trying either.

"Hinata-chan, aren't you going to try?" Ino asked the girl in a soft tone, quite unlike anything she would ever use with Naru.

"I-I will probably practice later, I d-don't really f-feel like it right now." Hinata replied, stuttering throughout.

"Come on Hinata-chan, we have all been trying, you need to try at least once." Sakura chimed in.

With the crowd of girls wanting her to perform the jutsu Hinata began getting nervous and finally caved in.

"A-alright, just d-don't be mad." she replied in a small voice.

"Mad, wha-" Ino began, however the rest of her sentence was cut off as Hinata was replaced in front of all their eyes by a log from the far end of the field.

"No WAY!" The girls screamed in unison, all looking and finding Hinata at the other end of the field.

'So that's why she wasn't practicing, she doesn't need to.' Naru contemplated, 'Perhaps I can observe her and get some tips, or maybe just ask, she has never picked on me.'

All of the girls rushed to where Hinata was, with Naru following slowly behind them.

"How did you manage to do that so quickly?" "You're amazing Hinata-chan!"

By this time however, it was nearing dusk and most of the girls needed to go home. "Help teach us tomorrow if you can Hinata-chan." they called back as they went on their way home.

As Hinata was making towards the Academy Naru called to her, "Hinata-chan!"

"Y-yes Naru-san?" she replied timidly.

'Here goes nothing.' she braced herself mentally, "I was hoping you could take just a couple minutes to give me some pointers?"

"S-sure, I guess I --" Hinata began.

Just as Naru's hopes were beginning to rise, a man appeared in a swirl of leaves, causing Naru to jump backwards and reach for a kunai.

"Hinata-sama, we must leave immediately." the new man stated. Naru immediately noticed that this man also had pupil-less eyes and long black hair.

"I w-was just going to help Naru-san--" She began again.

"Hyuuga do not associate with....her kind. What would your father think if he knew you were even talking to her." the man scolded, "And you, do not approach Hinata-sama again outside of class."

With that the man grabbed Hinata and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving Naru as the only one standing in the clearing as the sun set.

'I should have known..' Naru began, clenching her fists at her sides, 'I should have KNOWN! This is the last time, I will not trust any of them anymore. I am tired of being the one hurt all the time, I am tired of IT!'

The little girl that left that clearing was not the same one that entered it.

--Scene Break-- 3 days later, Orochimaru's Kusa base

Inhuman screams echoed throughout the compound, the sparse hallways allowing the sounds to bounce along and travel throughout the complex. In one wing, patients were being subjected to gene alteration therapy and then dissected while they were still alive and strapped down to a stainless steel table. This is where the majority of the screams originated. In a quieter part of the base Orochimaru himself was working, hovering over very panicked individuals whose only hope was that after Orochimaru was done with the seal he would let them go. Sadly, this was never the case.

As Orochimaru was finishing with the third subject he still couldn't help but be amazed by the complexity of the seal every time he worked with it. With only two tumblers to go Orochimaru was once again anxious to see the masterpiece come to life. As the final chakra tumbler fell into place Orochimaru was rewarded with an unholy red glow.

The seal literally sprang to life, expanding back into three dimensions rising up in a cylinder like column from the body of the test subject. The part of the seal that everyone was familiar with, the 8 pronged seal was projected up from the body of the test subject and beneath it was a complex array of seal work that even Orochimaru himself did not completely understand.

"So now I simply place my hand flat against the face of the seal and rotate it clockwise." Orochimaru spoke to himself amazed at beauty of what was happening to the seal.

As Orochimaru turned the face of the seal, the symbols on the column arising from the test subjects body re-arranged themselves and in some cases even changed. After Orochimaru was done, having turned the seal 90 degrees he channeled chakra into his hand and pushed back towards the subjects body. The seal flattened once again into 2 dimensions, and the 8 tumblers arranged themselves as before.

"Simply beautiful, the Yondaime Hokage was indeed a master of seals." Orochimaru chuckled to himself.

The subject was on the ground panting with the ordeal finally over and decided to ask, "Orochimaru-sama, please..."

Before the sentence could even be completed Orochimaru pointed his hand at the subject, a snake sprang from his sleeve and bit the man on the neck, silencing his pleas for all time.

"Keep the test subjects coming, I want to be back in Konoha within the week. It takes 2 days to get there so I only have 2 more days to practice. If you delay my schedule, I will not be amused." Orochimaru informed the base commander in a dangerous voice.

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama."

As the man left the chamber, Orochimaru began to lightly laugh to himself, "Don't worry little Naru-chan, Kenji won't be gone much longer."

A/N: Well, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. Once again I am very sorry for the lateness of it, all I can promise at this point is that I will try to ensure that I update more regularly in the future. I have been really busy lately, but I love this story more and more every time I write a chapter, so that always helps keep me motivated. Until next time.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I hope all of you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy the story. As always, thank you very much to everyone following this story and everyone that has reviewed.

"I did it!" the joyous voice rang throughout the clearing just behind the academy. "I finally did it, in all of your faces!"

"Oh shut up already Ino-chan, geez, you aren't even the first one to do it." Sakura replied in a despondent voice, somewhat peeved. 'I can't believe she was able to do kawarimi before me.'

"Yeah, but at least I was able to do it before the rest of you." Ino responded, sticking out her tongue to playfully spite them.

"So?" Sakura asked after a brief moment of silence.

"So what?" Ino replied.

"So, how did you learn it? What trick did you use?" Sakura inquired impatiently.

"Hehe, wouldn't you like to know." Ino responded in a haughty tone.

"Ino-chan!"

"I was just kidding. I got my dad to teach me, all those brains and you couldn't think to ask yours?"

Somewhat taken back by Ino's moment of perfect insight, Sakura stood in thought and then took off like a flash from the training grounds. Another girl walked up to Ino surprised when she saw Sakura running from the field.

"Where's Sakura-chan going Ino-chan?" she questioned with genuine concern.

"Don't worry, she is just going to talk to her dad probably." Ino answered quickly understanding the girls concern. A couple others had run from the field not to return because of their inability to do the jutsu over the past week.

Unknown to the group of girls excitedly talking about Ino's success and how she achieved it, another girl, a blond haired blue eyed Jinchuuriki was watching them. Whereas the eyes observing the group should have been curious, benign and joyous Naru's eyes had no such feelings within them. Those feelings had long since been driven out of her tiny body.

'She asked her father to teacher her....father.' Naru thought to herself, her eyes clouding with feelings she was coming to know too well, loneliness, sadness and finally anger. 'She's not better than me because of her own skill.'

After practicing for the rest of the day and still unable to get any further towards her goal of performing kawarimi Naru couldn't help it as the anger left her to only be replaced by even more sadness and loneliness. Crumpling into a sitting position due to exhaustion and desperation, Naru propped her elbows on her knees and fisted the golden locks hanging from her brow. 'I wish Kenji-san would return soon, I need his help.....and I miss him.'

Naru felt the tears begin to prick at the corners of her eyes, 'I will not cry, I won't.' Naru told herself as she used her fists to rub her eyes. However, as the sun began to set, she could not stop the tears from falling.

--Scene Break--

Once again Kakashi found himself walking through the massive complex that was commonly known as the Torture and Interrogation Building, this time leading another ANBU but instead of a cat mask as with his previous traveling companion this one proudly displayed a tiger mask.

"This is 2 for 2 Dog. If you keep showing up on time it might get out that you can actually be punctual when you need to be." A blonde haired man greeted as he emerged from one of the connecting hallways a few meters ahead of Kakashi.

"Trust me, I just make up for it on my other appointments throughout the day Yamanaka-san." Kakashi replied good naturedly before becoming serious, "I have brought the next ANBU to be examined."

"Straight to the point. Alright, come Tiger this will only take a little while."

Before Tiger could leave, Kakashi placed his hand on Tiger's shoulder and spoke, "Just as I told Neko, no matter the results of the report, it will not affect your overall career in ANBU, simply your assignment on this mission. This should put you a bit more at ease during the session to come."

The Tiger masked ANBU turned his head slightly to look at Kakashi and spoke confidently, "Thank you commander, however I have no need to worry. I will pass this examination and protect the Uzumaki girl as is the wish of our Hokage."

"Very well, then I will see you back at ANBU headquarters this afternoon."

Once the ANBU and Inoichi had entered the interrogation room, Inoichi instructed as he had before, "If you could please lie down in the center of the seal there..." he pointed to the center of the room, "....then we will be able to get started."

"Is there any particular reason I am to lie down Yamanaka-sama?"

"Don't worry, it's just procedure. This won't hurt a bit."

--Scene Break--

A very small group of shadowy figures sped through the woods of Fire Country, their shadows streaking in the pale moonlight against the trees and the forest floor. Hours passed, the figures did not stop nor did they slow down for fear of what their leader, the shadow in front, would do should they hinder his progress.

Finally, through some unspoken signal known only to the shadows of the forest, the group came to a halt one by one. The head figure then spoke, "We will make camp here for the night. We are approximately a day away from Konoha. Every one of you understands your tasks for tomorrow night correct?" It wasn't a question.

"Yes Orochimaru-sama!" they chorused into the night.

"Good. As I am sure all of you know, should any one of you fuck up this chance we have I will personally see to your torment." Orochimaru threatened in his most sinister voice before walking from the group to set up his tent.

Although it may have seemed odd to others that someone as powerful and feared as Orochimaru would have to set up his own tent, Orochimaru did not get to where he was by being careless. It was only too easy for a subordinate to slip an explosive tag into the lining of the tent as he set it up, or for him to pursue some other means of ensnaring Orochimaru because of his carelessness. Thus, despite his power Orochimaru like the other men in his group set to work on erecting his tent and then setting traps around it should anyone be foolish enough to attack him.

Once Orochimaru was inside of his tent, he let his mind wander somewhat, 'Tomorrow afternoon my little Naru-chan. Kenji-san will be back and I have found a way to 'fix' your seal. If all goes according to plan I will have a zealous follower, not to mention an extremely powerful and valuable one.'

Just before Orochimaru allowed himself to slip into a light slumber a final thought crossed his mind, 'I can only hope you don't prove as disappointing as Anko-chan my little Jinchuuriki.'

--Scene Break--

The sun was just beginning to peak over the heads of the past Hokages of the village, yet even at this ungodly hour of the morning the Hokage was already in a meeting. However, despite the fact that this meeting would undoubtedly conjure a mountain of paperwork for the aging Hokage, the old man's face was fighting a smile.

'For once, we can call a truce my eternal foe. I will not mind doing the paperwork this time.' Sarutobi spoke internally, to the ANBU commander before him he continued, "Dog, I am glad to hear that the first members you have tested both passed without any complications. Now about assignments?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, I would like to begin placing them on rotation guarding Uzumaki Naru as soon as possible. Although only 2 have been tested and approved so far I believe that she could benefit from it immensely. Until more are tested however I cannot field a full 24 hour rotation, I would more than willingly fill the open slot however, I am currently training my replacement during all of my free time. Therefore, I feel that the best rotation would be to have Neko guard her from 4pm until midnight, and then Tiger guard her from midnight to 8am." Kakashi finished finally taking in a breath.

"I see, what are your thoughts about the time she will be alone from 8am to 4pm?" Sarutobi enquired.

"Hokage-sama, I feel that the time it would be easiest for someone to attempt to harm Uzumaki Naru would be from the late afternoon to the early morning. The night has it's obvious advantage, providing great cover for whomever would like to carry out an attack. The early morning and the late afternoon are points at which guards are getting ready to leave their shift and are therefore at their weakest attention wise. Late morning to early afternoon is therefore the timeframe during which I believe she would be most safe by herself." Kakashi answered succinctly.

Sarutobi took a moment to think on what Kakashi had outlined for him. After a bit he took out his pipe from within his robes and begin to fill it with tobacco as he replied, "I can understand your logic Dog. In fact, were I in your position I would most likely have come to the same conclusion. My only worry is exactly that though. If I came to the same conclusion so would others, meaning they know when she will most likely be alone and without protection. Once we start guarding her, there may be a desperate attempt by the villagers or even shinobi to enact whatever plans they may have before it is too late. With this fairly obvious gap in her protection, I fear they may get their chance."

Kakashi watched the Hokage as he lit his pipe and slowly took a long drag on the ancient wood before replying, "I am aware of that Hokage-sama and I will do as much as I can to ensure that the testing of ANBU proceeds as quickly as possible. However, given our options I do not see any better way to approach the issue."

"I did not say there was a better way. It is simply something that worries this old man Dog. Do what you can, and let us hope it is enough." Sarutobi replied while exhaling a plume of grey smoke from underneath his formal hat.

"Yes Hokage-sama."

With that, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves to inform Neko and Tiger of their assignments.

"I can only hope that nothing happens between now and then. You have lasted this long without much incident Naru, please let things last a bit longer. You're life will change for the better, I swear it." the Hokage spoke aloud to himself as he began the paperwork to assign the two ANBU to guard Naru.

--Scene Break--

Neko and Tiger were relaxing, well relaxing as much as an ANBU could, within the ANBU lounge at headquarters waiting as their commander had instructed them to. Just as Neko was about to get bored with the wait Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. Immediately both ANBU jumped from their seated positions and stood at attention.

"I have been given permission by the Hokage to assign the both of you to the protection of Uzumaki Naru effective immediately." Kakashi began in an authoritative tone, "Neko, you will begin your shift from today onwards, starting at 4pm and ending at 12am. Tiger, you will relieve Neko at 12am and continue your shift until 8am."

"Sir, what is to happen between 8am and 4pm?" Neko asked.

"The Hokage and I both agree that 8am to 4pm is the most secure time for Uzumaki Naru to be left unguarded. Until a third member of ANBU passes Yamanaka-san's exam you two will be all the protection that she has. We need to hope it is enough." Kakashi replied in the same tone he used previously.

"Understood sir, do you have an information file on Uzumaki Naru that we can study before beginning our assignment?" the Tiger masked ANBU spoke finally.

"I do Tiger, however, it is not completely up to date and therefore you should not assume that she will act in exact accordance with what the file states."

"Great, you have to love bad intel." Neko replied sarcastically but in a low enough voice to where she didn't think Kakashi would hear.

"Then make it into good intel Neko, I expect an updated report of Uzumaki Naru's activities from 4pm to 12am by the end of next week." Kakashi commanded while eye smiling at Neko.

"Understood sir." Neko mumbled in a dejected tone.

"Very well, then I expect both of you to be prepared by the time your shifts come around. Never let your guard down simply because we are within the village walls." With those final instructions Kakashi walked from the room leaving the two ANBU to prepare for their mission.

--Scene Break--

Waking up much earlier than any of his subordinates Orochimaru began the day with an anticipation that he seldom felt. 'Finally, after so much time my plans for retribution have begun Sarutobi. Konoha will burn and once you understand the scope and beauty of my plans you will weep knowing that you and the villagers were instrumental to its success.'

After Orochimaru had finished packing up his tent he shouted to his subordinates, "Time to wake up fools, today my plans begin!"

Immediately all of the members of the camp were scrambling to get their supplies together and re-sealed for the mission ahead of them. Infiltrating a ninja village is never an easy task, and this wasn't just any village. Konoha, being one of the most powerful ninja villages accordingly had some of the best security around.

"Always remember that I expect the best of every person I employ. I expect no mistakes today and there damn well better not be any. However, I am not unkind and should you all perform perfectly today then the rewards will be great." Orochimaru spoke as he faced the group, ready to make the final trek of the journey.

"You expect the best and you provide the best rewards, this we know Orochimaru-sama. We will not fail you. I can't wait to meet those girls again, the ones you brought from Cloud after the last mission were all goddesses." the second in command of the group replied with a smile forming on his face.

Smiling at the fact that simply by providing whores for these men he could control them to such an extent Orochimaru began to lay out the plans for the day one final time, "Alright then. I will be meeting the Jinchuuriki girl again at the place we normally meet, Kabuto has been keeping an eye on things within the village and has informed me that she has continued to frequent the spot daily. The rest of you are to spread out from that area and prepare to kill any non-genin that may pass through. In the event that genin trespass in our area, simply cast a genjutsu on them, they will be none the wiser after we are gone. Higher than genin though and there is no choice but to kill them. These are contingency plans however, she is normally alone at this time of the afternoon and there should be no problems."

"Understood Orochimaru-sama!" The chorused in unison.

"Then let us move out."

--Scene Break--

With the deadline for Kawarimi quickly approaching, all of the young kunoichi that had yet to master the jutsu were behind the academy working as if their lives depended on it. Although their lives did not depend on it, their careers certainly did so there was no slacking off, and for some tempers were running high. However, this does not mean that some of the girls to master the jutsu the previous week were not there showing off.

As if just to flaunt their combined mastery, both Ino and Sakura were performing Kawarimi up and down the field behind the academy, Sakura having learned from her father after Ino told her how she mastered it.

"Quit showing off! We all know you can do it already, how about helping some of the rest of us out?!" an unknown girl from within the throng of young kunoichi hollered.

"But it's so eeeeeeasy." Ino replied while locking her eyes with the other blond across the field who currently by herself. Speaking to the group of girls but still looking at Naru Ino replied, "Are you sure you want me to teach you?"

"Yes, yes!" the group of girls exclaimed.

"Alright, I guess I can." still looking at Naru Ino finally addressed her, "You want to learn too Whiskers? I'm sure I can probably teach even you."

Naru simply continued to stare into Ino's eyes, barely able to suppress her anger towards the girl.

"Fine then Whiskers, I wasn't going to teach you anyways, even if you asked. Guess you are finally getting smart huh?" Ino replied mockingly.

"I don't want to learn with her anyways, my mom said I should stay away from her." one of the girls in the group spoke up.

The girl was not alone and was quickly followed by a chorus of "Yeah.""Mine too.""Same here."

Naru couldn't take it any longer and yelled across the field, "I don't want to learn from you anyways. You're not better than me!!" Ino turned around as Naru continued yelling, "You think you're so good just because your dad taught you but that means nothing, without him you wouldn't be able to do it either!"

Ino feeling offended and acting as children often do who are yet to understand how deep their insults can cut yelled back, "Well at least I have a dad to teach me. Why don't you just drop out Whiskers you aren't going to make it at this rate."

With that Ino turned back to the group of girls and began explaining how to perform Kawarimi.

Naru who had been building an exceptionally thick skin through her constant verbal battles with Ino was cut unexpectedly deep and couldn't think of how to respond. Ino's latest verbal barb had struck her in a place that she always tried to protect and isolate from others. With emotions running high and unwilling to cry in front of the others Naru ran into the woods behind the academy, to the place where she and Kenji normally trained.

--Scene Break--

Shortly after the meeting with Kakashi, Neko had left to prepare herself. Acting as a bodyguard was never considered a fun mission nor was it ever really considered to be desired, both of these were due to the fact that it was based almost purely on reaction and combat. Shinobi and Kunoichi alike are trained to attack stealthily with the element of surprise on their side. This is not how body guard missions usually play out, one must react to the sudden attempt on the customers life and generally with little warning or understanding of the situation.

Thus, Neko was preparing for war as she scoured her house for all the items she may need. Shuriken, explosive notes, ANBU issue demolition notes, ANBU issue katana, DEFCON flairs, smoke bombs, ninja wire, anti-venoms and a trauma kit. The last two items she hoped never to use because it would mean she had most likely failed.

As Neko searched around her room for anything else she may be missing her eyes spotted the clock which read 2:58pm.

"I guess it won't hurt me to be a bit early today, unlike some other very late people that I know." Neko stated to herself.

Across town the ANBU commander sneezed.

"It will still take me about 25 minutes to get to the part of the training ground the file indicates that Uzumaki-san spends her time at." Neko muttered as she grabbed her gear and headed towards the door.

"Time to earn my keep." and with that Neko closed and locked the door.

--Scene Break--

A figure masked in darkness watch from the woods as Naru tried relentlessly to perform some jutsu. 'From the looks of the seal she must be trying to perform Kawarimi. Time for Kenji to make his entrance.'

Orochimaru snuck up behind Naru while her eyes were closed, and once he was close enough to touch her he spoke, "Hello again Naru-chan."

"Gah!" Naru exclaimed as she spun around almost losing her balance. Whatever anger or fear she may have felt in that moment melted the moment she saw Kenji, "Kenji-san! You're back!"

"That I am Naru-chan and I come back bearing good news." he spoke, the anticipation building.

"Good news? What good news?" Naru asked timidly.

"I have found a way to help you Naru-chan. That is why I did my best to get back here as soon as possible. It should fix all the problems you have controlling your chakra, and it will more likely than not allow you to easily perform Kawarimi no jutsu which you are so diligently practicing." Orochimaru replied softly while looking into Naru's sky blue eyes.

"You found a way to help me?" Naru choked out, "I-I don't know what to...Kenji-san thank you!" Naru exclaimed and then ran forward to hug him around his stomach tears beginning to leak from her eyes.

Gently patting Naru on the head while he was nearing the end of his patience, Orochimaru answered, "You're welcome Naru-chan. Now, in order to help you I am going to need you to let me see your seal again. You haven't told anyone about it have you?"

"No! I haven't told anyone Kenji-san." Naru responded immediately.

"Good girl. The seal is the key and I have found a way to fix it so that you will no longer have problems with you chakra control. I just need you to lift up your shirt enough and channel chakra so I can see the seal like last time. You may also want to lay down while I do this."

Almost immediately Naru laid herself down on the ground and began doing as Orochimaru instructed. Orochimaru could barely contain himself at this point. 'Too easy Sarutobi, just too easy.'

As Orochimaru knelt over Naru's body his hands above the glowing seal he asked, "Are you nervous Naru-chan?"

"I trust you Kenji-san." Naru responded confidently without opening her eyes.

With practiced ease, Orochimaru began focusing chakra into his hands and manipulating the tumblers of the 8 pronged seal. One by one the chakra tumblers fell into place, it seemed almost too easy. Finally it was down to manipulating the last tumbler into place and a feeling almost completely foreign began to fill Orochimaru, anticipation of the unknown and the excitement of the first step in his master plan.

As with all of the other people Orochimaru had experimented on before, a column of glowing red symbols rose from Naru's small body, and as with all the others Orochimaru marveled at the beauty of the Yondaime's work. He did note however the red ethereal glow from the symbols were much darker than those of the subjects he had experimented on.

Orochimaru glanced back down at Naru but could not tell much about what she was feeling or knew because her eyes were still closed and her breathing even. Almost as if she were in a trance. Putting his concentration back on the task at hand, Orochimaru focused chakra into his right hand, placed it firmly against the top of the glowing cylinder and began to twist his palm 90 degrees clockwise.

The glowing symbols along the column immediately began to re-arrange themselves and more often than not changed all together into a new symbol. 'Much more activity than with my test subjects.' Orochimaru noted idly yet with some trepidation.

Once the symbols had calmed and ceased to change Orochimaru could feel the butterfly's in his stomach. 'This is the first step in Konoha's destruction!'

With that thought, Orochimaru used all his might to push the column of glowing symbols back into Naru's body. However, any feelings of elation or anticipation Orochimaru had were immediately destroyed the moment of the 8 pronged seal flattened against Naru's stomach.

'What the hell happened?!' Orochimaru screamed mentally. He was knocked off his feet and onto his back the moment his palm was flush with Naru's stomach. The next thing to register was Naru's screams which were echoing throughout the woods, screams that put his most tortured subjects to shame. At this point, Orochimaru knew something had gone horribly wrong.

--Scene Break--

Only about 5 minutes from Naru's customary training grounds, Neko's heart almost stopped as she was struck by a wave of chakra and knocked to the ground. The chakra was familiar, it still haunted her nightmares at times and she hoped to never feel it again. Then she heard the screams, screams of unimaginable pain echoing throughout the woods.

"Shit! Shit shit shit!" she exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet and grabbed a flair from the front pocked of her ANBU uniform. All ANBU carried flairs that had dire consequence should they ever be launched.

Pulling the ripcord on the bottom, a shell rocketed from the tube in a plume of smoke and fire screaming through the sky. Once it reached the apex of its climb it burst into a distinctive pattern known only to ANBU. This particular design was a message, the village was in danger, secure the Hokage, the council, and assemble the forces of Konoha for the defense of the village. The last time this particular symbol was seen was nearly 10 years ago....on the night of the Kyuubi attack.

Once the flair burst in the sky, Neko took off pushing herself beyond her limits in order to reach the area of the training grounds the screams were coming from. Bursting through the last group of trees Neko came upon a shocking scene. Naru was writhing on the ground covered in a shroud of red chakra and a figure was next to her getting to his feet. She did not have time to concentrate on that however as she noticed a kunai traveling straight for her head followed by two other foreign shinobi.

--Scene Break--

The Hokage not watching the skies had no idea anything had happened until seconds after the flair exploded when Kakashi appeared in his office without notice in a swirl of leaves. Taking matters in stride due to his experience Sarutobi began as calmly as he could, "Dog, report."

"Hokage-sama, the village is being moved to Defense Condition 1 (DEFCON1). Neko has launched her flair, she was heading out a bit early to start her watch over Naru and has come across something, we are not sure what. I have reports from ANBU in that section of the village that they were almost bowled over by a wave of chakra that has been identified as that of the Kyuubi." In the middle of this conversation a group of ANBU appeared in the room and surrounded the Hokage. "You are being moved to a secure location Hokage-sama, we must ensure the continuation of the government. The council is being moved as we speak. I do not 100% understand all the matters concerning the situation as yet, however I will ensure that Neko and Tiger protect Uzumaki Naru if at all possible. I myself will be heading to the scene after you have been escorted to safety." Kakashi finished.

"I see. The seal on Naru is of the upmost quality Dog, it would not break nor act in this matter unless tampered with. There are either foreign shinobi or traitors within our village. Find them immediately after you secure Naru. Furthermore, you should know this old man by now Dog. I will not run and hide within that monument." Sarutobi responded while he opened a secret compartment within the wall near his desk and grabbed his armor. "I will always be willing to risk my life for this village."

Knowing that he could not convince the Hokage to go to the government continuation bunker within the Hokage monument with the rest of the council Kakashi replied, "I will have the ANBU act as your protection from here then." turning to the rest of the ANBU he continued, "Protect the Hokage with your lives." After that Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Looking over the village from the tower as he donned his armor Sarutobi whispered to himself, "It looks as if I have failed you Minato, I am sorry."

A/N: Well guys, that's a wrap for this chapter. I know it's kind of an un-cool place to stop but it seemed like a nice one chapter wise. Next chapter will involve many fight scenes which I hope to find a way to do them justice. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter and I will start working on the new one shortly. Look forward to it!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys! I hope all of you enjoy this chapter and as always I am sorry for the late update. I have been extremely busy lately, and part of that reason involves research on anime and manga. I am really trying to understand the industry and it's pains so I can further understand it's future. At the end of this chapter is a survey, I would very much appreciate it if you could answer the questions, they aren't long and submit them in a PM or a review. Thank you very much for your help in my research, and enjoy the new chapter!

Almost all activity in the village came to a halt with the streets becoming eerily quiet, every eye in the village was upon the complex decoration gracing the sky. The older villagers whose memory could stretch reliably more than ten years had an extremely bad feeling invoked by the symbol and they scoured their memories to try and recover what the symbol was associated with. An earth shattering boom from a wave of energy knocked the wind out of all the villagers in the streets and shook the ancient buildings along the roads.

"K-K-Kyuubi..." an elderly man with silver grey hair whispered as he used his bony hand to grab the corner of a nearby market stall and pull himself up. That single word spread like wildfire, synapses sparking in every adults memory, bringing back events they hoped to never remember let alone relive. The hysteria was rapidly rising, children were wailing because of the unknown force that had caused them pain and the parents who had already recovered were reliving the worst moments of their lives.

It was hard to tell who screamed first, but in an instant the entire population of Konoha was screaming and running for their lives. Stalls were pushed over, produce trampled underneath the feet of fear crazed civilians, as far as any of them knew the Kyuubi had returned to finish what it started all those years ago.

Luckily, an entire platoon of ANBU appeared in midnight armor in the middle of the street. Launching a small incendiary into the sky, the Kakashi calmly waited for the round to explode, the sound stunning most of the civilians. The explosion caused all of the people present to turn and they calmed somewhat upon seeing the heavily armed, calm, collected and professional ANBU.

"Attention all civilians! There has been a situation that has forced us to elevate the status of Konoha to Defense Condition 1, you must all evacuate to the civilian shelters within the Hokage mountain. The group of ANBU behind me will facilitate your evacuation in an orderly and safe manner. Konoha is now under martial law, any resistance will not be tolerated." Kakashi explained in the most calm and authoritative voice he could muster.

Instantaneously the platoon of ANBU behind Kakashi broke rank and began to herd the civilians towards the most direct paths to the Hokage mountain. The scene was not a pretty one despite the cooperation of the civilians. As Kakashi looked over the throng of people he couldn't help but take in their faces, a plump woman with shoulder length black hair and a soft rosy face was clutching her crying newborn to her breast as she ran with the throng to the shelters. A man with hair that had long since been gone was trying to push his thin and aging limbs to keep up with the crowd, his hold on the cane he used to walk with being shaky at best. A little boy barley 7 years old, bright blond hair and probably only as tall as Kakashi's mid section was trying to fight the throng looking for something or more likely someone, tears of pure fear in his eyes. Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment and the screams of that horribly night so many years ago came back to him.

'I will do all that I can to protect you Uzumaki, but my village will always come first.' With that final thought, Kakashi shushined as close as he could to where Neko reportedly launched her flair.

-Scene Break-

The world almost seemed to slow down as Neko watched the kunai fly at her followed by two enemy shinobi. Adrenaline flooded her system, she could hear the steady rhythm of her accelerated pulse pounding within her ears, all of this occurring as she grabbed the hilt of the katana strapped to her back. The blade erupted from its sheath with the scream of steel on steel and was brought to bear deflecting the incoming kunai easily. There was no time to spare however as the two ninja had already split up and were trying to attack her from both sides in a pincer maneuver.

'teamwork, they aren't strangers, right has muscles left has speed, right's making first attack!' Neko was quickly analyzing the situation, trying to get her bearings and keep herself alive but the situation was quickly going FUBAR on her. With a simple thought, the muscle memory that Neko had trained for years took over and her whole body moved in the blink of an eye, and not a moment too soon as a scythe came down right where her body had previously been, shearing off a couple hairs that had been trailing behind her. 'behind!'

As soon as the thought entered Neko's mind however a fist connected with her temple, making her ears ring and the entire world stumble as she regained her bearings. Fumbling with the hem of her ANBU uniform Neko smashed a smoke bomb at her feet and disappeared within the cover the billowing black smoke provided. 'Now you assholes are in my territory.' she thought to herself as she regained her bearings in the dark. 'I can only sense the muscular asshole near the edge of the smoke right now though, where is the other guy?'

The muscular ninja bearing a massive scythe with jagged teeth was lumbering just outside of Neko's reach. Years of training had sculpted his body into a machine of death and destruction, and the wild mane of red hair he sported made him look even more like a berserker who reveled in combat for the sake of combat. Twirling the scythe expertly in his hands he called out, "Come out and play kitty. I'm gunna enjoy skinning you, is there really more than 1 way though?" chuckling to himself he continued, "Well, we can find out in a moment here can't we, but not before I have some other fun with you first, haha!"

'I'm not a new recruit that is going to lose my head over taunts like that, you are underestimating me.' Neko pondered as she tried to find the other ninja from her current hiding place. With just a second to spare for thoughts other than the current battle Neko was able to detect Naru, the screams had stopped but Neko could still feel that she was alive. What this meant though was anyone's guess. Finally making up her mind Neko began her counter attack.

As the smoke was just beginning to clear, a blur exploded from the black curtain and brought a gleaming beam of metal down towards the side of the muscular man's body. The man's eyes widened in surprise, she attacked with far greater speed than he thought possible. He just barely managed to block the blade with his scythe's handle and even then suffered a shallow cut that immediately began to weep blood.

"You're fast aren't you kitten." the man spoke his face morphing into a smile. Muscles all over the man's body contracted, his skin visibly rippling with effort as he pushed the handle of his scythe against the katana and bodily threw Neko through the air. "You're going to have to do better than that though. Come on, make this fun for me!"

Before she could respond though, from behind her she heard, "**Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and saw a massive ball of fire headed towards her. With Neko's mind racing she performed the first defensive jutsu that could come to her mind, "Doton Doryuuheki!". A column of mud spewed from Neko forming a wall just in time for the incoming fireball, however the blast from the impact forced her down to the ground. **

**Just as Neko opened her eyes again she saw the gleam of a scythe coming straight for her. Once again the world slowed down to a crawl, 'This can't be it.'**

**"Senai Jashuu!" **

**A group of snakes worked their way around the man's limbs, the snakes own muscular bodies flexing and trapping the man as the heads all sunk their fangs into the his neck. A gurgled scream escaped the man's throat, but it was choked off moments later as one of the snakes began wrapping itself around his neck.**

**A young woman with purple hair tied back in a ponytail had the snakes all coming from the sleeves of her trench coat which was open just enough to show off her toned body covered in fishnet clothing. Barely decent many times, but at this point Neko could care less. "Anko! Thank Kami-sama, but there is at least one more guy around here somewhere!" **

**"You mean that one over there?" Anko motioned with her head behind Neko. She quickly turned around to spot the deadly enemy that Anko was so casually pointing out. However, relief swept over Neko as she saw the other ninja's body slipping off the Katana that Kakashi was wielding, the blood staining the usually pristine blade.**

**"Commander! Thank you for coming so quickly." **

**"Report Neko, what's going on?" Kakashi commanded as he stalked up to the pair of women.**

**"Sir, I only caught a glimpse of Uzumaki before I was ambushed and lead from the area by these two..." she pointed at the dead shinobi, "...however she was covered in a shroud of red chakra and screaming like I have never heard before. It was worse than what you hear over at T&I. There was a man near her body, but I didn't get a look at his face."**

**"Alright, let's move. We need to secure Uzumaki Naru and apprehend whoever was with her. There are platoons of ANBU securing the village and then they will be moving this way prepared for the worst. The quicker we can get to Uzumaki the better." Kakashi instructed the pair.**

**-Scene Break- **

Orochimaru observed Naru as her screams subsided, however the shroud of red chakra remained. Almost immediately he noticed a couple of things, 'The whisker marks on her cheeks are not any thicker, but they are much darker now, her hair has also taken on somewhat of a wild and furry-like quality. Pronounced canines and sharpened finger nails, for some reason there is a physical transformation as a result of the seal being altered.'

The battle being waged by his subordinates was constantly in the back of Orochimaru's mind so when two of what had become 5 chakra signatures disappeared Orochimaru frowned. 'They have failed me, they are lucky that the price of their failure was only death.'

A rustling noise nearby caught his attention though, and Orochimaru noticed that Naru was getting up. However, he then noticed another profound change, the eyes that had once been sky blue were now blood red and had slits in them mirroring what one would find in the eyes of a predator.

'Those are not the eyes of the Uzumaki girl, those eyes have a primal and deadly presence to...' Before Orochimaru could even finish his internal revelation Naru used her clawed hand covered in a thin layer of glowing red chakra to swipe at his face. Having been more concerned about what was most likely ANBU coming to the scene Orochimaru was barely able to avoid the strike. "Naru-chan, it's me Kenji!"

All Orochimaru received in response was a guttural growl that was by no means a sound the girl he knew would ever make. 'What is that moving behind her? A tail composed of chakra! Interesting, very interesting. However, there is only 1 you hold the Kyuubi so there must be 8 others somewhere inside you.'

With speed that was unheard of for a kunoichi of her age Naru leapt to the nearest tree and used it as a spring board to launch herself at Orochimaru once again, her clawed hand ready for the strike. 'I don't have time for this, the ANBU are almost here!' Orochimaru quickly grabbed Naru's wrist ignoring the searing pain that the red chakra caused and transferred the girls momentum using it to twirl the pair around and then launched Naru into the trunk of a large tree at the end of the field.

'SHIT. I won't let you escape me Naru, this isn't over by a long shot my plans will simply have to change a bit to accommodate this complication.' Orochimaru mused to himself as he watched Naru struggle to get back up. However, his ruminations were interrupted when three ANBU appeared at the end of the clearing nearest himself.

"Anko, Neko! The both of you go secure the man in the clearing, I will secure Uzumaki." In a swirl of leaves Kakashi appeared at the other end of the clearing next to Naru.

'Ah, thank you for keeping the young Jinchuuriki busy Mr. ANBU Commander ku ku ku.' Turning to look at the coming Kunoichi Orochimaru had to hide his surprise and amusement at seeing Anko so close without her knowing it. "Ah, and what can I do for you two lovely ladies?"

"You can surrender before we have to force you to surrender. The choice is yours." Neko replied in a monotone.

"Please resist, I haven't had fun in a while." Anko chimed in while licking the blade of a kunai she had pulled from her trench coat.

'I don't sense any other signatures approaching yet, they most likely are evacuating the city after Neko launched that DEFCON 1 flair. I have time to play at bit with Anko-chan!' "Very well, let us play a bit." With that said Orochimaru summoned two mud clones from the ground making sure to have them mimic his current form.

"He disappeared!" Neko yelled. 'Where in the hell did he go? That was beyond quick, this guy is not a normal shinobi.'

Having both sensed the pending attack, Anko and Neko turned around simultaneously to block attacks from Orochimaru clones, Anko with a kunai and Neko with a katana. Before they could jump away though, the real Orochimaru appeared behind them and executed a leg sweep, taking out their footing. However, once again as if they had choreographed the fight Anko and Neko both contorted their bodies and planted their left palms on the ground to cartwheel to a standing position far away.

**"Senai Jashuu!" Anko hollered as a group of snakes from her sleeve wrapped themselves around one of the mud clones she was able to get close enough to. As with the muscular man previously they sank their fangs into the clones throat and began squeezing forcing the clone to revert to a pile of mud.**

**The clang of a weapon being deflected caught Anko's attention and she turned around to see Neko right behind her with her sword blocking the sword an Orochimaru mud clone. 'That was close, I didn't even sense that strike coming at me.' Anko thought to herself.**

**The clone lost its concentration for a second upon seeing Anko turn around and Neko capitalized on it using the time to twirl gracefully around the clone, bringing her katana down with a backward strike cutting its head off. Once again the body turned into a pile of mud.**

**Anko and Neko were both taken by surprise however as a group of snakes worked their way around their bodies forcing them to be immobile. "Orochimaru...OROCHIMARU!" Anko yelled furiously redoubling her efforts against the snakes she was only too familiar with. 'Now is my chance, he is here, I can kill HIM!'**

**"Now don't be like that Anko-chan. I'm sorry but I really don't have any more time to stay and play so I'm going to have to end this, especially since you both now know who I am. It's a shame though, I was kind of looking forward to showing you how I was going to destroy that little girl, like I destroyed you Anko, it would have been so much fun ku ku ku." Orochimaru drawled.**

**"YOU DIDN'T DESTROY ME ASSHOLE! YOU FUCKER I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Anko hollered with all her might, the rage she was feeling was almost unbearable. **

**"Don't worry Anko, I'll treat her much better than I treated you. She is after all a very powerful weapon, and she is so eager to please. It's going to be so mu-..." Orochimaru did not get to finish though because he was interrupted by a bo-staff smacking into the side of his head. Orochimaru was thrown across the clearing, his body skipping almost like a rock on a pond until it came to a halt skidding in the dirt. The snakes loosened and Anko and Neko were able to escape. They couldn't help but look in awe at their savior.**

**"It has been a long time Orochimaru." the Sandaime spoke in a calm but deadly voice. He was fully dressed in battlefield armor and carrying the bo-staff that so many of his enemies had learned to dread. He looked like the perfect image of the warrior Hokage despite his age.**

**'FUCK! How did I not sense the old man coming? I underestimated you Sarutobi, however my plans have been set in motion and there is nothing you can do to stop them.' "Sarutobi, how nice to see you. I'm sure you'll understand though if I don't stay and chat. I have things to do, people to see you know." Orochimaru replied stalling to get his bearings and prepare for an escape.**

**"I can't let you leave this time Orochimaru, I made that mistake once and I won't make it again." The aged Hokage replied with a sad look on his face as he took a battle stance with the bo-staff held in the ready position.**

**"Why so serious Sarutobi? I was just having some fun with the girl that's all. Don't worry, she'll be better for it..." looking behind Sarutobi at Anko he continued, "...isn't that right Anko-chan?" **

**Anko released a scream and charged Orochimaru from 2 directions, she had discretely made a mud clone of her own during the conversation. Both clones shot snakes from their sleeves colliding around Orochimaru's body however they were all quickly dispatched as Orochimaru pulled out Kusanagi. Orochimaru then used the blunt side of Kusanagi to throw the real Anko into Sarutobi. The old man was barely able to catch Anko and retain his stance. **

**"Until we meet again Sarutobi." with that Orochimaru disappeared into the ground. Before they could even think to look for him though a primal growl was heard across the clearing, the reverberations so deep that it resonated with their insides. The group looked to the other end of the field and saw Kakashi facing off against a Naru with two chakra tails swirling behind her. The image brought back horrible memories for everyone in the group, but the Sandaime had perhaps the worst of them all.**

**"Minato, Kushina...I don't deserve your forgiveness." the old man whispered to himself.**

**A/N: Well, that seemed like a good place to call this chapter. The next one will be recounting what Kakashi and Naru were doing during the Orochimaru fight as well as how they all settle the matter of Naru in two tail form. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Below is the Survey, I would very much appreciate it if you could take the time to fill it out and put the answers in a PM or a review. The more surveys completed the less variance my data will have.**

**SURVEY**

1) On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a hardcore Otaku, what level would you place yourself at?

2) How many manga are you reading on a regular basis per month?

3) How many anime are you watching on a regular basis per month?

4) How many fan fiction stories do you read on a regular basis per month?

5) What would you say is the biggest factor that limits the amount of manga, anime and fan fiction you view?

6) Where do you go for manga and/or anime and/or fan fiction? Do you go to Google or a specific site?

7) Do you download anime/manga/fan fiction or do you view it online?

8) How do you find a new series to follow? How hard is it for you to find a new series to follow?

9) What are the biggest problems with anime, manga and fan fiction that you currently face? Ex: I spend hours sometimes looking for a new manga to read.

10) If free manga and anime were not available online, would you purchase it?

11) If you go to more than 1 website for manga and anime, why?

12) Describe the ideal anime, manga and fan fiction online experience for you.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Holy crap it has been a while guys. I have been extremely busy lately, however as I may or may not have mentioned before, this story will never die, I will not allow that to happen. So here is the newest chapter, I hope that all of you enjoy it.

As Kakashi stared down the nightmarish form of the little girl he had sworn to protect, he couldn't help but feel the situation was rapidly getting out of control. A flash of movement in the woods behind Naru queued Kakashi to the imminent approach of the Sandaime as well as Anko and Neko.

'This is your call now Sarutobi, I am out of ideas.' Kakashi lamented inside his mind as he prepared a distraction for Naru. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two perfect copies of Kakashi burst into existence and immediately charged at Naru, however their intent was not to defeat her, merely to attract her attention and force a chase. With a growl Naru's glowing form leapt after the copies, intent on tearing them to pieces with the fiery claws she now possessed. Landing in front of Kakashi, the Sandaime approached while being flanked by Neko and Anko.

"Dog, status." The Sandaime stated while observing Naru's form chasing the Kage Bunshins, attempting to shred them and with each strike that missed destroying trees as well as the surrounding terrain easily.

"Hokage-sama, I have tried to subdue Uzumaki-san through non-lethal means however her current form seems to posses regenerative capabilities on a scale we have never encountered. Any injury that she has sustained thus far has been almost immediately healed which is preventing her capture. Also, the layer of chakra surrounding her body is incredibly dangerous, not only does it burn anything it comes in contact with just like a flame; it also has a polymorphic nature, allowing it to offer her enhanced reach in the form of chakra like appendages. I am no longer sure how to subdue her with non-lethal force Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied in a professional manner, keeping his own feelings concerning the matter of his failure to keep the girl safe out of the situation.

"I see, and what would your recommendation for action be at this point?" The Hokage questioned in a soft yet commanding tone.

"Unless we are able to find a way to subdue her soon, we will be forced to use lethal action against her. Any ANBU that have become available will be making their way to this area as quickly as possible and they will not be as level headed about Uzumaki-san in a partial Kyuubi state."

Anko, who had remained quiet during the conversation suddenly interrupted, "If she is killed then Orochimaru wins! Can't you see that? The only way that you can take victory away from Orochimaru is to save her."

Neko responded before either Kakashi or Sarutobi could, "Anko, Orochimaru mentioned the Uzumaki girl being a powerful weapon, I doubt he intended for us to kill the girl."

"It doesn't matter what Orochimaru intended! What matters is that Orochimaru has royally mind fucked the girl and the only way to take victory from him is to allow her to live and not become a weapon for him. Killing her does nothing, NOTHING!" Anko explained, her voice rising as she was reliving her own experiences with Orochimaru as a child and the prejudice people had and still have against her.

"Anko…" the Sarutobi began, staring into her brown eyes as he spoke, seeing through the pain she was so desperately trying to hide, "I want nothing more than to save Naru, if you can think of any way to subdue her before others get here I am all ears."

'Kakashi said that she is able to heal incredibly fast, so that means we need something that her regenerative abilities will not be able to immediately fix, something that will weaken her to the point that she can finally be subdued. Fuck it, this might be the only way to fuck Orochimaru and save someone while I'm at it.' Anko reached within a pocket on the inside of her vest and pulled out a senbon that was slightly tinted green and held it up for everyone to see, "This senbon needle has been coated in what is the most powerful neurotoxin I have been able to obtain, if this doesn't cut her bitchy mood nothing will. Normally this toxin would kill anyone save someone with an extreme immunity to poisons, however even that person would be laid up in bed feeling like shit for a week or more. Her regenerative capabilities should keep the poison from killing her or at the very least slow it down enough so we can subdue her and give me enough time to go get the antidote for it."

The tell tale sounds of bunshins bursting into smoke were heard out in the woods and everyone understood that time was up. "Well, if that is our best option then we will go with it. Kakashi, you, Neko and I will distract Naru and try to open up a shot for Anko. After that, her life is in fates hands." The aged man spoke with just a bit of hope.

Just as Sarutobi finished speaking a streak of red burst forth from the woods and back into the clearing. Once again Naru slowed her approach to a prowl as she began to circle her potential prey, scarlet eyes boring into them. Upon some unspoken signal, the muscles within Naru's body contracted and she leapt, claws reaching to take down Neko who was the nearest target. Immediately the scene became a storm of chaos, bodies dancing around blades and claws, leaves swirling as individuals disappeared and then reappeared. Then it ended almost as quickly as it had begun, the Sandaime was able to extend his bo staff and sweep Naru's legs out from under her at which point Kakashi and Neko were able to grab her wrists and slam her face first into the ground. Anko rushed up and expertly guided the senbon into Naru's exposed neck. Immediately after all four of them sprung away from Naru's body, desperately hoping their plan had worked.

Naru let loose what was somewhere between a roar and a scream as the senbon pierced her neck, and began trying to free the needle from her body the moment she was released. However, as her attempts initially were normal speed, subsequent attempts were more sloth like, until her body began to slump back down to the ground. The poison had at this point already permeated throughout her entire body and to prevent it from stopping her heart the chakra enveloping her began to recede focusing more on healing the imminent danger. Sarutobi, Anko, Neko and Kakashi all watched as Naru's form eventually came to lay prone on the ground, her breathing labored and her golden hair matted to her head with sweat.

"It worked. Hell yeah!" Anko exclaimed.

'Minato, Kushina I know you were watching over Naru this day, thank you. I will do better by her, I swear.' Sarutobi thought to himself as he sighed in relief.

"Hokage-sama, I have received communication that the civilians have been secured and a platoon of ANBU is headed our direction to provide support and security for yourself. What are your orders?" Kakashi asked, doing his best to keep the situation under control now that Naru had been subdued.

"Anko, Neko and Kakashi, I want all of you to provide security for Naru. The ANBU platoon that is on its way will be able to provide security for myself. Once they arrive we will be escorted to the hospital where Naru will be treated in my personal emergency room. There should be more than enough security between the three of you and that room to protect Naru over the next couple of days. I will be contacting Jiraiya immediately and once he arrives we will know more." Sarutobi responded, speaking to each of them in turn. "Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" they chorused back to him.

-Scene Break Next Morning—

"LET ME GO!" echoed throughout the deserted corridor within the hospital that led to the personal treatment center for the Hokage. The voice was a combination of rage and fear, rage at being held against her will and fear of what may happen because she was being held against her will.

Inside the room Naru was strapped to a bed with chakra suppression seals on the straps that went around both of her wrists, her ankles and her stomach. Every so often she would make an attempt at getting free, using all of her failing strength to try and break free of her bonds. However, each attempt that she began anew ended just like all of her other attempts, only gaining her friction burns and not her freedom.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!" was the sound that continued to rip itself from Naru's throat upon each failed attempt.

However, Naru calmed somewhat when the door which had not opened since she had awoken finally began to creak on its hinges and reveal a figure. Dressed in the complete regalia of the Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi had just come from what seemed to be an endless council meeting, one he had definitely not enjoyed.

Flashback

The clamor in the council chamber was almost intolerable, everyone was speaking in heated tones and all at the same time. Furthermore, the guards of each council member were becoming agitated and edgy as tensions continued to rise.

"SILENCE!" the voice of the Hokage boomed throughout the chamber, followed by the clang of the hilt of his bow staff being slammed into the ground. Despite his age, Sarutobi was completely transformed back into the persona of the warrior leader, and one that would not tolerate insolence.

Quickly the chambers became quiet, with all of the eyes now focused on the leader of the village. "I will explain now what has transpired today and all of you will listen without interrupting me. Once everyone has been brought up to speed we can begin to talk about where to go from here. Is that understood?" Sarutobi stated, looking around the room.

As the council had been evacuated to the Hokage Mountain previously, none of them were aware of what had happened or why the village had been evacuated and naturally their curiosity got the better of them. Seeing the masses nodding their heads, Sarutobi began to relay what had happened within the past hours.

"Orochimaru has struck at our village once again. Using what intelligence we have been able to recover from the victim's belongings we have been able to determine that he was using the alias of Kenji and was henged to mask his identity. Exactly how long he has infiltrated our village is something we are still looking to determine; however it is our current understanding that he has been coming and going for some time." Stopping to take a breath, the Sandaime was dreading the next part of the conversation, 'This isn't going to be fun.'

"Orochimaru has used his considerable skill to trick and manipulate Uzumaki Naru into believing him to be an ally." As soon as he had finished the sentence the entire chamber erupted with a roar of speech.

"I SAID SILENCE!" Sarutobi commanded.

As the council calmed once more, he continued, "Orochimaru has used his ability to gain the trust of Uzumaki Naru, to what exact end we do not know yet, however he did mention her as a powerful weapon. Furthermore, Orochimaru has tampered with the seal keeping the Kyuubi at bay, before you panic however there is no immediate danger of the Kyuubi escaping. The seal was designed to have a variable flow of chakra from what Jiraiya has been able to tell me through message carrier birds. We will not know for sure exactly what has transpired until Jiraiya arrives, however it is our current understanding that Orochimaru has increased the amount of chakra coming from the Kyuubi and into Naru. As such, her appearance has been changed, whether temporarily or permanently we will not know until Jiraiya's arrival. Now that you are all up to speed on the situation, the civilian council has the right to decide how to handle matters pertaining to a civilian, what is your decision?" Sarutobi finished with a calm and self confident tone.

Standing up, a member of the council spoke, "It has long been the opinion of this council that the girl in question, Uzumaki Naru, would never be anything but trouble for the village. She has been compromised with this latest attack by Orochimaru and we feel that the risk to the village now that the Kyuubi has more access to her body is too great to allow her to live. We understand that you are fond of the girl Hokage-sama, however it is the decision of the council that in order to preserve the safety of Konoha, Uzumaki Naru shall be executed."

"Somehow, I knew before any of you ever spoke what your choice would be. As such, I am promoting Uzumaki Naru to the rank of Genin putting her life and wellbeing firmly and solely under my jurisdiction and that of the Shinobi Council." Sarutobi, seeing that the council member was getting ready to interrupt continued quickly, "Because the village has gone to defense condition 1 we were and are technically still at war although we did not know with whom. During times of war the powers of the Hokage expand to include the power to appoint any individual a member of Konoha's forces at the rank of Genin. I am exercising this power now. Uzumaki Naru is a Genin of Konoha from this moment forward and the decisions of the civilian council no longer apply to her life."

'Now I just have to convince the Shinobi Council not to do anything rash.' Sarutobi sighed to himself as he left the chamber.

End Flashback

Time seemed to slow down as Sarutobi looked over Naru strapped to the bed. Her long blonde hair was loose behind her, sprawled across the pillow; it had taken on a quality that made it look somewhat like fur, the lines which graced her cheeks that had once been noticeable but not overtly now shown prominently. Barely visible because her mouth was slightly open he could see that her canines had become somewhat elongated and upon seeing her hands he noticed that her fingernails almost resembled claws.

'You may be alive and safe Naru however your life has been forever changed because I was not able to protect you. I can never forgive myself for this, your life shall get better though, that I promise.' Sarutobi promised himself while he walked up to the bed.

"Naru, how are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"Why am I tied to this bed? Where is Kenji, what's going on?" Naru asked, her voice dripping with panic.

"You were tied to the bed for your own safety, however I can take the bindings off if you want?" he told her calmly.

"Yes, get these OFF me." She growled back to him.

Applying chakra to the correct parts of each seal on the straps, Sarutobi removed the chakra suppression and then undid the straps that were keeping her on the bed. Immediately, Naru snatched her limbs back to herself and sat in the far corner of the bed from the Hokage.

"Naru…Kenji, what was he doing with you in the woods?"

Naru's sapphire eyes snapped to the Hokage almost immediately, her pupils elongating somewhat adding an animal like nature to them, 'How does he know about Kenji meeting me in the woods? I…' Naru was train of thought was derailed when the Hokage continued.

"Naru, there is something you need to know about Kenji. I realize you are not going to want to believe me however it is the truth no matter how much you deny it. Kenji is actually a man named Orochimaru, a man who was once…my student." Sarutobi began, his voice becoming a bit tight once he mentioned the word student, "Orochimaru is a man that will do anything for power, no matter who he has to hurt or betray whether that is children, adults, or even entire villages. He uses people always for his own ends, and he has done the same with you Naru. I know he has done something to the seal on your stomach, and yes…" he answered before Naru could even think to ask, "I know that you know of the seal." He finished looking through Naru's eyes and into her soul.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I have never met anyone named Kenji and I don't know anything about a seal." Naru answered quickly, turning her face away from the Hokage.

"Naru, whatever he promised you, he didn't do it for your benefit. In fact, he almost got you killed today. What he did to the seal on your stomach was incredibly dangerous and only a fool would have done it, that or someone who did not care for who they were doing it to." The Sandaime provoked, hoping to get a rise out of Naru and thereby obtain information, he wasn't known as the God of Shinobi for nothing.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" she screamed, her voice taking on a shrill note. Naru practically leapt from the bed and came to stop directly in front of the Hokage, "Kenji was only helping me, he was making it easier for me to control my chakra, and he isn't a fool! He's done more for me than anyone else in this village EVER HAS!" she finished staring defiantly up at the Hokage.

"Naru, you need to understand that Orochimaru has placed your life in incredible danger. Do you not remember the pain you felt while you were writhing on the ground." He asked her calmly.

"H-he didn't tell me it was going to hurt, but it made me better though! I feel better than I did before, it hurt like nothing I have ever felt, but he was doing it to help me not hurt me." Naru answered, the memories of the pain making her falter a bit in the beginning.

"Naru, you almost died from that pain. Not only that, but Orochimaru left you behind when we showed up, if he cared he would have made sure you were ok right? Orochimaru…" The Hokage began explaining again before he was cut off.

"His name is Kenji not Orochimaru!" Naru yelled. 'He just left me because he had to, they were going to hurt him and he must have known I was going to be ok. That has to be it, Kenji wouldn't have left me otherwise, he wouldn't have…' Naru thought to herself as she continued to try and rationalize all that had happened.

'He didn't help you Naru, you were in so much more danger than you can ever understand.' The Hokage contemplated sadly as he stared at the changed girl in front of him.

Flashback

"None of this would have happened if I had just been given custody of the girl as I originally requested, surely the council must understand this?" Danzo spoke aloud to the members of the Shinobi Council. "By allowing her to roam free throughout the village, we expose her to threats both foreign and domestic, threats as dangerous as Orochimaru himself. Therefore, I humbly request that this time the council ratify my request for custody of Uzumaki Naru."

The council chambers was quickly filled with the hushed whispers of different clan heads negotiating among themselves as to how to resolve the matter of Danzo's proposal. Most if not all agreed that after this most recent incident that the Uzumaki girl needed to be restricted in her movements throughout the village at the very least. However, turning her over to Danzo for his 'molding' was something that had them all a bit on edge.

"Have each and every one of you forgotten the dying wish of the Yondaime, the man that gave his life for this village?" Sarutobi spoke up after listening to some of the debate among the different clans. "Minato's final wish was for Uzumaki Naru to be treated as a hero, because of her sacrifice, of which she had no choice in, we are all alive and well. I did not think that this council would have so readily forgotten a man such as him and his final request from the village that he gave so much to." Sarutobi continued, starting at each of the clan heads around the room in turn as all of the whispered conversations had ceased.

"Do you think so little of him that you do not trust in his judgment or abilities as a seal master? He would not have asked that she be treated as a hero if she were a danger to the village. At the very least, wait until Jiraiya returns before you make any decisions that you may one day regret. Or do you not trust in the skill of Jiraiya either?" Sarutobi finished, hoping that this would be enough to satisfy the council for now, bringing up the issue of Naru being the daughter of Minato and Kushina was an absolute last resort.

Hyuuga Hiashi stood up and spoke before the council, "I propose that we wait until the arrival of Jiraiya of the Sannin before we make any final decisions. However, I also propose that until such time Uzumaki Naru be restricted to the room in which she is being currently held and guarded by the most powerful ANBU we have available. Should she show any signs out of the ordinary then the ANBU will be able to put her down. Is that acceptable Hokage-sama?" He finished, looking towards the Hokage.

"It is enough for the time being. Shall we put it to a vote then?" Sarutobi replied

End Flashback

"Naru, what was the one thing you used to always come to me about as a child, the one thing that you didn't like about yourself?" 'I really don't want to bring it up this way, however this may be the only way to get her to understand what Orochimaru has done.' he asked as he went to the corner of the room and picked up a plain hand mirror.

"My whisker marks, what of it?" She replied gruffly, still quite angry about him calling Kenji Orochimaru and saying all of those lies about him.

"If Orochimaru really cared about you, would he have done this to you then?" the Sandaime asked softly as he passed the mirror to Naru.

"Done wha—" Naru's voice was cut off the moment she began to take in her features. Slowly, one of her clawed hands rose and a finger traced one of the now prominent whisker marks on her cheeks. Noticing the claw like nails as she did so, Naru brought her hands in front of her to examine them, her breathing becoming quick as she did so.

'N-no, this can't be happening, he wouldn't have done this to me. He wouldn't have…' Naru argued with herself, however she couldn't argue with the memories that were beginning to surface in broken pieces.

Memory

'That's the dog masked ANBU that saved me in class! How am I fighting him, he keeps jumping all around me, I can't keep track of his movements.' Naru thought as she was reliving the memory.

'Those are my hands, but they are covered in some kind of red chakra, what the hell is going on!'

"Don't worry Anko, I'll treat her much better than I treated you. She is after all a very powerful weapon, and she is so eager to please."

'It can't be, no, no…'

End Memory

"Noooooooooooooooo!" Naru's voice ripped out of her lungs in an anguished scream, her clawed hands came up to grasp the sides of her head gripping the fur like hair and inflicting small wounds that readily wept crimson tears as she came to realize that Kenji had done this to her, and worst of all, he didn't really care for her, he was using her. Naru slumped into a sitting position against the hospital bed with her knees brought up to her chest and her head looking down into her lap as she continued to cry.

'It was all lies, every encouraging word and each time I cried in front of him and he comforted me…all lies. I gave him my trust, I loved him and it was all turned on me in an instant. Why can't I find someone that loves me, just one person, is that so much to ask when everyone else has two? Does that mean everything else he told me was a lie, the things about Ji-chan?' Naru thought, lifting her head and looking up at the Sandaime, gazing into his grandfatherly eyes with her teary vision.

Kneeling down, the Sandaime reached out brought Naru's crouching form into a hug, her head coming to rest in the middle of his chest while he reached back to his early years of parenthood for guidance and began rubbing her back and she shook from silent tears. "I'm sorry Naru-chan, I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you. Sorry doesn't change what happened, I know that, however I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe from now on. If you can just give this old man another chance, I would like nothing more than to try and make it up to you."

Naru's response was to grip his robes tighter as she let out all the feelings that had been plaguing her over the years.

After about 15 minutes, Naru had finally calmed down however she had not looked up from his chest in all of that time. 'I really don't want to bring this up now but it has to be done.' Sarutobi despaired to himself.

"Naru…" he began, "I have been in meetings with the civilian and shinobi councils throughout the morning with respect to today's events." He felt her grip on him tighten somewhat, being even more acutely aware of it because of the slight pain her claws were causing him, "I have some good news and some bad news. First the bad, you have to stay in this hospital room until my student Jiraiya arrives, he will be able to examine your seal and tell me if your life is in danger. Are you ok with that?"

'Ji-chan is the only one that has been there for me, even when I had doubted him, even when I was mean to him he still looks out for me. You are the only one that will ever have my trust Ji-chan.' Naru shook her head up and down accepting his judgment on the matter.

"The good news is that you are now a genin of Konoha, I have appointed you to that rank so you don't have to go back to the academy if you don't want to. This means that I have better ways to protect you, all of the shinobi of the village are under the jurisdiction of the Hokage and the Shinobi Council. Don't worry, I'm sure Jiraiya will say everything is going to be ok and then we can start a new life for you as a Kunoichi of Konoha.

'I will make sure that you are not caged up for the rest of your life Naru, it will happen over my dead body.'

A/N: Well guys, that's a wrap for this chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it and I will try my best to update again soon. Thank you for reading!


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